Courage

I suspect like most people, I got conned into watching this because of Jason Priestly's name.

Still cute, but he pretty much phoned in his performance. Jerk. At least his character got a leg infection.

But his performance is stellar compared to that of almost everyone else involved in the project, from the writers to the director to the other actors, the cinematographer, the music, and the special effects group.

One sure sign of a crap movie is the fact that it's obviously made in Canada, and yet it supposed to be in some US town that nobody can name. Not on the public buildings, not on the police cars, nowhere. But, like every small US town, it does have a Scotiabank. I'm amazed they actually found a Washington license plate. Big budget, eh?

I start out assuming that a movie will be a 7, and then I start moving the score up or down from there. This one quickly dropped to 6, which typically are B movies, and then to 5, which are things that are so bad they can hardly even be called movies. I didn't give it a 4 or less, because I don't feel that the filmmakers actually intended to maliciously insult the audience.

The only part that wasn't predictable was how awesomely bad the ending was going to be. I don't think I've seen anything more recent than the Gilligan's Island TV series that actually uses sped-up playback to turn a walking bear into a running bear. On Bear Island. Whatever.

If you're in Canada, and particularly in BC, you probably helped pay for this piece of junk, via its tax credits or film incentives. Are you having fun yet?

The best actor is the bear, the storm scene is so bad special effects it's laughable

Family in Danger is the plot for "Courage," a 2009 Lifetime movie starring Jason Priestley, Andrea Roth, and Genevieve Buechner.

Priestley plays a widower named Robert who has remarried Teresa (Roth). He is also an author who has written a book, "How To Date Brainy Women." Naturally his teenage daughter Christy (Buechner) is a resentful brat who doesn't like Teresa.

Robert suggests the family head for Bear Lake in their boat. A huge storm comes up, and Robert disappears. The two women find him, but they have pretty much wrecked the boat, and Robert has an infection in one leg and the other leg is broken. Teresa retrieves their supplies from the boat.

It turns out that Robert is married to Superwoman. She builds fires from cell phone batteries, she makes a stretcher when they have to move Robert, she applies first aid to him.

You name it, she does it. I'm surprised she couldn't repair the boat. Give her some gum and I'll bet she could have done it.

Nature in the form of a grizzly bear is their enemy, and the family finds itself trying to escape him.

This movie is completely predictable and somehow, the womens' hair looked pretty good after a storm and roughing it. Jason Priestley basically lies around being sick. I saw him at a restaurant once greeting what were obviously a family of old friends. He seemed very sweet and he's short.

Despite its predictability, I have to say it was entertaining. The acting was nothing special, but Andrea Roth is very likable, as is Priestley. How he didn't lose that infected leg is a miracle.

A rising author (Jason Priestly) takes his spoiled daughter and new wife (Genevieve Buechner and Andrea Roth) on a boat trip in Puget Sound, but they shipwreck on an island where there's a grizzly on the loose.

"Courage" (2009) is a family knockoff of "The Edge" (1997) and I was hoping for a worthwhile tv-budget variation but it devolved into eye-rolling dramatics and hammy acting (e.g. The redneck bear hunter).

Everything is here for a quality adventure/survival movie - a solid cast, scenic locations and a real (huge) brown bear. The author angle is good, but Priestly is removed as an active participant fairly early and the focus on the overly good-natured wife and her annoying, weepy stepdaughter can't carry the film. A more imaginative script was needed.

The film runs 1 hour, 35 minutes, and was shot in southwestern British Columbia (town) and an inlet of the Strait of Georgia outside Vancouver (shipwreck scenes).

GRADE: C-

Poorly written, directed predictable story with wooden acting except or Andrea Roth.