Duma

This isn't quite the old story about a boy, his dog, and their hazardous journey together—a cheetah replaces the canine, so technically it's a boy-and-his-cat tale—but director Carroll Ballard (The Black Stallion, Never Cry Wolf) makes it seem freshly-minted, thanks to a savvy script (based on Carol Cawthra Hopcraft's book How It Was With Dooms) that touches all the right buttons without becoming either too lachrymose or stentorian, set against gorgeous South African vistas. Newcomer Alexander Michaletos is engaging as Xan, the tyke who raises orphaned cheetah cub Duma, whom he and his father (Campbell Scott) discover along an isolated road. After Xan's dad dies and his mother (Hope Davis) moves them to the city, the lad decides to return the now-grown animal to the wild, an effort requiring a 1,000-mile trek across forbidding territory, made much more difficult when his father's old motorcycle breaks down and Xan and Duma (who rode in the sidecar) are forced to continue on foot. Happily, the lad finds a friend—a native wanderer (Eamonn Walker) who's initially a potential threat but soon becomes a guide and protector—and together the trio resume the journey. In the hands of a less skilled director, Duma could easily have been a hokey and bathetic timewaster; instead, it's that much rarer creature: a great family film. Highly recommended. [Note: Available in either widescreen or full screen versions, DVD extras include two minutes of extended scenes, and trailers. Bottom line: a disappointing extras package for a wonderful film.] (F. Swietek)