A FAR OFF PLACE
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1993 James Berardinelli
Date Released: 3/12/93 Running Length: 1:47 Rated: PG (Mature themes)
Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Ethan Randall, Jack Thompson, Sarel Bok, Maximilian Schell Director: Mikael Salomon Producers: Eva Monley and Elaine Sperber Screenplay: Robert Caswell, Jonathan Hensleigh, and Sally Robinson Music: James Horner Released by Walt Disney Pictures in association with Amblin Entertainment
Nonnie Parker (Reese Witherspoon) is a 14-year-old girl living on a farm in Africa. Harry Winslow (Ethan Randall) is a 16-year-old boy visiting with his father from America. The two get thrown together when elephant-tusk poachers murder Nonnie's parents and Harry's father in an attempt to cover their tracks. With the help of a teenage bush man named Xhabbo (Sarel Bok), Nonnie and Harry attempt a crossing of the Kalahari desert to escape the poachers.
A FAR OFF PLACE is undoubtedly designed as a "family film" (hence the PG rating), but parents should be warned. Some of the scenes of animal death may be quite disturbing to younger children. Despite Disney's disclaimer that no animals were injured during the filming of the picture (the dead elephants are actually meticulously-constructed life-size replicas), this is unlikely to make more of a difference to the little ones in the audience than the knowledge that Bambi's mother was only a cartoon deer.
The basic plot is relatively simple, although there are moments when certain elements of it becomes needlessly (albeit briefly) convoluted. The best part of A FAR OFF PLACE is, predictably, its centerpiece--the trek across the Kalahari. On this journey, the three principle characters learn a lot about life and each other. The revelations border on trite, but they're at least presented in an enjoyable fashion.
Reese Witherspoon (last seen as the charming younger sister in THE MAN IN THE MOON) shows a lot of ability and presence in her role as Nonnie. Her character is not especially well-written, but she gets a lot out of it. Sarel Bok is equally good. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Ethan Randall. Randall's Harry is an often-obnoxious whiner, and the actor seems to have trouble finding much that is noble in Harry's character. Randall is outclassed by Witherspoon and Bok in almost every scene. They are pleasures to watch; he is not.
As a family feature, A FAR OFF PLACE does a pretty good job. It puts together all the right formulas in a frequently-engaging fashion. The villains are predictably evil and the heroes unabashedly good, but the main struggle is less of a morality play than man against nature. The cinematography (by Juan Ruiz-Anchia) is impressive, especially coupled with James Horner's fine score. A FAR OFF PLACE, while clearly not a milestone of film, is a predictable-but-satisfying movie adventure.
Double-billed with A FAR OFF PLACE is the newest Roger Rabbit cartoon, "Trail Mix-Up." The nine-minute short is rather average cartoon fare until the clever ending. I found it neither exceptionally funny nor dull. Children will love it; adults, if not as fond of it as their offspring, should at least be able to tolerate it. "Trail Mix-Up" has the subtlety--and plot--of a Roadrunner and Wiley Coyote cartoon, although it certainly isn't as clever as the latter. While not worth a trip to the theater on its own merits, "Trail Mix-Up" is a painless diversion, and an okay appetizer for the much longer A FAR OFF PLACE.
Rating: 8.2 (B+, ***)
- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)
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