A FAR OFF PLACE, with Reese Witherspoon, Ethan Randall, Sarel Bok and Maximilian Schell. Directed by Michael Salomon.
ONE can picture the pitch perfectly: it's like Out of Africa meets The Incredible Journey. It's The Blue Lagoon meets The Gods Must Be Crazy on Walkabout.
This Disney live-actioner was doubtless designed by committee, but far from being a resultant camel of a movie it is surprisingly graceful and works to stirringly good effect.
It could be described as a camel only in the sense that it crosses the Kalahari Desert with little in the way of food and water to sustain it - and after a brisk, environmentally correct prologue, this long passage is what A Far Off Place is about.
On a wildlife reserve in southwest Africa, young Reese Witherspoon (a memorable pubescent debutante in last year's Man in the Moon ) has been raised as a practical tomboy with a comfortable respect for the indigenous life, both animal and human, around her.
New arrival Ethan Randall appears to be in every way her opposite: a hip New York kid, determined to be unimpressed by a family visit to the plains.
The third main character is a young Kalahari bushman, wise in the ways of the wilderness and our spirit guide for the duration; the fourth - this is Disney after all - is a dog.