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Verdict: A nice, well-made variation of "Born Free," starring a bear.

Details: Starring Bryan Brown, Daniel Clark, Tom Jackson. Rated PG for wilderness adventure violence and some mild language. 1 hour, 34 minutes.

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Review: When old Harry (Richard Harris) scares his grandkids with a campfire tale of a hungry bear, he makes amends by telling them a remarkable adventure he had at their age. That's the start of "Grizzly Falls," a sweet but action-packed tale about a boy, a bear and the bond between parent and child — even when they're not of the same species.

Told mostly in flashback, "Falls" unfolds in the turn-of-the-century Wild West (actually, the Canadian-U.K. production was shot in the Canadian Rockies). After his mother's death, young Harry (Daniel Clark) is taken by his adventurer dad, Tyrone (Bryan Brown), into the wilds to do what no one has done: capture a live grizzly bear for study.

The expedition doesn't turn out as expected. Not nearly. In a Jack London version of quid pro quo, Tyrone captures two bear cubs, while their huge and violent mama bear bears young Harry away into the forest as a surrogate son.

It's a wildly unlikely scenario, but served up convincingly. It helps that the movie's furry star Mizzy (played by the impressive Ali Oop under the guidance of trainer Ruth LaBarge) is very convincing as a scary force of nature. The early, edgy scenes of Harry at the mercy of his long-clawed abductor can really work your nerves. (This is a good family film, but it definitely earns its PG rating.)

As Tyrone and his Native American tracker, Joshua (Tom Jackson), search for Harry, director Stewart Raffill takes the right amount of time to develop a relationship of trust between the boy and the bear. Harry tries to run away. She cuffs him for it. She offers him a feast of grubs, while he treats her to her first taste of cooked fish.

For all its scenic vistas and action scenes, "Grizzly Falls" is really about something very domestic: the value of family bonds. The crux is Harry's desire to be loved by the world-traveling father he has rarely seen. It's to screenwriter Richard Beattie's credit that the theme comes through without the sort of sentimental overstatement that mars many family films.

— Steve Murray, Cox News Service

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