Originally shown on TNT, this made-for-cable TV-movie is long on message, and short on depth. John Lithgow stars as Bob Carter, an alcoholic American novelist who sends a photographer to Africa to take pictures as research for an upcoming novel. When the photographer is killed by ivory poachers, Carter heads for Nairobi. He meets Maria Edmonson (Isabella Rossellini), a field biologist, and together with the local police inspector (James Earl Jones), the trio set about trying to infiltrate and bust the poaching ring. As you might suspect, the film is a well-meaning commercial about the massacre of the elephants. And with the considerable weight of the National Geographic Society behind the film, the cinematography highlighting Africa and its wildlife is naturally magnificent. But the script is riddled with one cliché after another, and the melodrama borders on the ridiculous. Towards the end, Lithgow and Rossellini attempt to steer a herd of elephants away from approaching poachers. The sight of the pair of them running through the grasslands, waving their arms at the elephants and screaming "go away, go away," is certainly one of the more embarrassing moments in their professional careers. The F.A.B. (Film Advisory Board) rating of "Mature" is for mild swearing and violence. Not a necessary purchase. (R. Pitman)
Ivory Hunters
color. 94 min. Turner Home Entertainment. (1990). $79.98. F.A.B. rating: M (Mature) Library Journal
Ivory Hunters
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