The Bear

With all due respect to the nominees for Best Actor this year, I think that one performance was seriously overlooked by the Academy: a little guy named Youk's. Youk is a brown bear, a cub actually, who can portray a wide range of emotions much better than most humans. Based on the novel The Grizzly King by James-Oliver Curwood, this fascinating live-action animal story tells the tale of a baby cub (Youk) who, when his mother is killed in a landslide, sets out on his own. He meets up with Kaar, a male brown bear who's been shot by hunters. In one of the most poignant scenes in the film, Youk dances around the snarling and suspicious Kaar, working his way ever closer, until he's near enough to lick the wounds of the big bear. Over the course of the film, Kaar and Youk attempt to evade the encroaching hunters, and run into various adventures along the way. In one such, Youk gets a glimpse at bear sex (a decidedly macho activity, as Kaar's idea of foreplay is to push over about half a dozen trees). This scene, and the graphic nature of the violence (which is likely to scare small children) account for the PG rating. As for the overall story, however, The Bear is hands-down one of the best nature movies ever made. Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)