When your world wise elders tell you not to go into The Barrons... listen to them! They know what they are talking about ! Sure, sure, it was only supposed to be a day canoe trip but there are always those "just around the corner" things you must investigate ! The boys, Nicholas Shields and Evan Adams, play their characters quite believably. Graham Green is his usual wise self and always a pleasure to find in any film.One of the dreaded plot holes for me was just why the school sent Jamie away so close to the end of a semester. NOT to mention just how they keep getting those fires started and manage to ... well... lots of holes.It's basically an "after school teach the kids inter cultural tolerance" kind of picture and as such is pretty watchable but be prepared to use that suspension of disbelief.The BEAR is terrific !

The film begins with our young star James (Nicholas Shields) being kicked out of the private school for financial reasons. He's sadly disappointed, but must go live with a relative Angus (Lee Campbell) in the back woods of Canada. I actually saw the sequel to this first, and searched out part one on amazon. It's so family-friendly, it hurts, but makes for a fine 90 minutes of viewing. Everyone is so polite, they even hand him a bag of sandwiches as they kick him out of the building. James narrates his own story in detail, so this is probably meant for a younger audience. He has many adventures, and learns life lessons the hard way, with Awasis, the Indian native as a guide. Very simple, plain story, so keep those expectations in check. Not bad, though. The beginning is pretty choppy, but it gets better as it goes along.Directed by Micheal Scott, who has been nominated for two Oscars, both for shorts prior to this. Story by Farley Mowat, who had written the novel. Looking over his works, he has written his stories based on the great outdoors. According to wikipedia, Mowat was a devoted naturalist and environmentalist. It also points out that the details in his books were a little shaky, and some of his claims may have been exaggerated.

The box has the words "family" stomped all over it, so the happy outcome is never in doubt.What makes this adventure movie interesting is the very clearly drawn characters of the two 15-year old protagonists.Orphan Jamie is impulsive and completely self-centred. Native Awasis is steeped in native superstition, a product of abuse in residential schools. Each gradually becomes a little less extreme from their interaction.Because it is a family film, sex never rears it head, in even the most passing reference. Sex or desire just does not exist in their universe between anybody. I found the complete lack more jarring than had they put in a token reference to somebody having the hots for someone else. It gave the movie an unrealistic Disney feel.I had some problems with continuity. The boys keep acquiring things as needed without any explanation of where they came from. It reminded me a bit of Mary Poppins' magic bag.I did not particularly want to watch this movie. I did not want to watch people freezing, starving, killing animals for food and eating revolting things. The movie was my roommate's choice. However, the movie more than held my interest the whole way through.

A young man is unexpectedly removed from his high school and has to go live in the north of Canada with his trapper uncle who he doesn't know. He doesn't know anything about anything pertaining to this life style or area and he has no desire to learn.He travels even farther north with some Indians he just met. He ends up lost in the barrens of northern Canada with an Indian boy. They face tremendous hardships.This is an excellent adventure movie for the whole family. I gave it a 9. Roger Moncrief