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Duma Our rating: Rate this movie   MPAA rating: PG (for mild adventure peril) Genre: Adventure, Drama Theater release: August 05, 2005 by Warner Brothers Directed by: Carroll Ballard Runtime: 1 hour 40 minutes Cast: Alexander Michaletos (Xan), Campbell Scott (Peter), Hope Davis (Kristin), Eamonn Walker (Ripkuna) Related: Talk About It/Family Corner

Duma is one of Hollywood's better attempts at live-action family-friendly fare. The film, helmed by Carroll Ballard (Fly Away Home, The Black Stallion), does not resort to the gross-out antics of so many of its contemporaries. Rather, Duma relies on an emotional coming-of-age story set against a beautiful African backdrop to engage the audience and to deliver a powerful and satisfying film.

The movie opens with what could easily be footage from a National Geographic documentary. Barren land. Sun-choked vegetation. Panting animals. But, the image grows unsettling as a once-complacent lion sets his sights on a coalition of cheetah cubs. In an instant, the footage becomes brutal in the harsh reality of the animal kingdom, as the mother cheetah sacrifices herself for the safety of her babies. Yet, the opening scenes suggest that humans could learn a lesson or two from animals. Life walks a delicate balance between beautiful and brutal, and continues its march to time's beat regardless.

Finding Duma as a cub, Xan and his father decide to 'adopt'

The plot is simple: Duma is the story of a boy and his adopted cheetah, whom he names Duma (Swahili for "cheetah"). But, simple does not mean simplistic. In this case, simple means understated, reflective, and timeless.

The film, adapted from an autobiography by Xan Hopcraft, follows the journeys of an extraordinary character—12-year-old Xan (played superbly by newcomer Alexander Michaletos), who is carefree and amiable. Yet, when his father (Campbell Scott) becomes terminally ill, Xan trades in his innocuous free spirit for a burdened stoic soul. He holds his cards close to his vest, so much so that even his mother (American Splendor's Hope Davis), a compassionate presence in the film, cannot break through Xan's hardened exterior to help him cope.

What was an ideal childhood (growing up on a farm, saving and raising an abandoned cheetah, and living with two loving parents) quickly becomes Xan's living nightmare, as he and his mother are forced to lease the farm and move to Johannesburg to live with relatives. During this transitional time, both Xan and Duma look as though they live in captivity. Neither have room to run and play, and life has pushed both into circumstances well out of their respective comfort zones.

Xan (Alexander Michaletos) and his cheetah friend, Duma

So, Xan decides to do something about it. What follows is one of the most profound psychological and physical journeys ever written into a movie geared toward children. That adventure centers around Xan's desire to return Duma to his home in the wilderness—a place far removed from Johannesburg, requiring the boy-cheetah team to face several different and terrifying challenges (deserts, crocodiles, wart hogs, trappers, and an interesting stranger).

On the first leg of the journey, Xan's motorcycle runs out of gas in the middle of the Salt Pans, a bleak and lifeless area in which the film seems to stop. The only movement is the heat vapors rising from the ground. The only sound is Duma's panting. Xan finds refuge in a crashed plane—and waits, knowing he has no water and, possibly, no hope. But he does not panic. Rather, the silence offers a time for reflection, an open invitation to rest and think and wait. It's a welcome departure from modern films otherwise filled with non-stop action and explosions.

Duma and Xan share many experiences on their journey

Farther along in his journey, Xan meets Ripkuna (Eamonn Walker), a schemer and dreamer who deserted his family and tribe for fortune in the city. Rip and Xan, two people who have lost trust in humanity, make for an interesting team. Back-stabbing at first, the two must put aside their differences and prejudices in order to survive the brutal wilderness. Rip, in essence, serves as another marker in Xan's ultimate test.

Duma is chock full of themes: the joys of childhood, the pains of growth, the importance of friends and family, reconciliation in relationships, the wildness of animals and humans—you name it, this film's got it. But screenwriters Karen Janszen and Mark St. Germain did not include the various themes carelessly. They weaved a story in which a life's quest makes or breaks a person. Their script gives credence to the intelligence of its target market. Children deserve movies that make them think and that are not "dumbed down" to get cheap laughs. Kids are savvy consumers; they will know when a film is well-made and thoughtful.

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