Never Cry Wolf

Oh, the weather outside is frightful!  Keep warm indoors but still get into this winter weather!

Never Cry Wolf is based on Canadian writer Farlew Mowat's autobiographical novel of the same name.  The film starts with a written intro about wolves suspected of killing off the caribou population in the arctic.  Since no scientist has verified that wolves are the culprits, the government sends Tyler (Charles Martin Smith) to track wolves and monitor their impact on the environment.

Tyler opens the film with narration in a diary style (which he does for most of the film), observing the people he meets, including a brash bush pilot (Brian Dennehy, although he's not in the film for long).  Tyler is unsure of his assignment and he is a fish out of water in this environment, he's frightened and is intimidated by the first wolves he encounters.

At first he just sits and watches for signs like tracks, but as the weather warms he decides to go out in the open and make himself visible, thus inviting curious wolves to come up to him and making it easier for him to observe.  As time goes on, Tyler learns to be more savvy to nature's way of doing things.

He eventually observes a family of wolves and makes assumptions about their behavior.  He gets a visit from some Eskimos, one who has traditional ways (Zachary Ittimangnaq) and the adopted son who has more modern values.


Charles Martin Smith is credible as first a nerdish guy who becomes more attuned to nature.  His transformation is gradual and subtle, and much of the film is him as the only human actor on screen.  Perhaps the animal behavior is not 100% scientific, but the narrative of Tyler's discovery and eventual, I think, support of the wolves feels real while the film still creates a enjoyable, true family film (including some circle-of-life animal depictions).  This is a Disney-made movie, and I wonder why the company doesn't make family film of this sort anymore.  Nowadays family films are either dumbed down or contain too much violence or innuendo to bring in the parental audience and thus too mature to be truly for kids.


This is a winter winner!