Who can argue about the wholesome all-American(?) boy who rescues a wolf? I will attempt an argument.
I would like to think that in the 23 years since this movie was made that as a society we have become more sensitive as we learn to share, preserve, respect, and live with wild animals. They are not pets nor should we attempt to anthropomorphize them. A film like this sends the entirely wrong message, not just to kids but adults as well. I am amazed how it is that a story, an image, something on a TV or movie screen can be seen as reality, even if the movie is based on a true story. It is still just a story.
In Jean Stapleton's Foundation Interview she recounted an experience where she was working on another project at the time her character, Edith Bunker, died on All In the Family. The following morning she stepped out of her hotel room walking down the hall, and a housekeeper nearly fainted upon seeing her. "Didn't you die last night?". When the Beverly Hillbillies was first on the air, the tourists mobbed the home of Carlotta Kirkeby in Bel Air. There would be a knock at the door whereupon opening it the visitors would ask, "Are Jed and Granny around? Are Ellie May and Jethro home?" My point is that there seems to be a challenge for some to differentiate between entertainment and real life for whatever reason. The idea that you could rescue a wild animal, nurse it back to health, subdue it, put it on a leash and muzzle it creates an unrealistic and very tenuous line between story and reality. It creates unrealistic expectations that humans can rescue a wild animal in an attempt to help by just being kind and speaking softly.
Beyond this very flawed aspect, the sound track is utterly deplorable.
Ghastly. Horrible. Even though there are some beautiful scenes showing the incomparable majesty of British Columbia it's not enough to perform a movie rescue on this bit of cinema.
