Duma 2005

Jeff Shannon, Seattle Times: With ravenous alligators and lions on the prowl, Duma delivers familiar adventure, but Ballard refuses to cater to cuteness. Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: Exactly the sort of movie parents starved for a good family picture in the theaters should be seeking out. Read more

David Edelstein, Slate: I like it. Maybe not as much as those other pictures, but enough to bemoan a system in which family films have been so geared to kids (and their parents) with a kind of attention deficit disorder that it's inhospitable to a measured piece of storytelling. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: It really is in the best sense of it, a good family film. Read more

AV Club: Read more

Kathy Cano Murillo, Arizona Republic: Kids and animals are often a risky combination, but put them together in a movie such as Duma and you have a winning team. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Too suspenseful for the youngest children, but for anyone older than 8 or 9, it evokes nothing less than awe at the harsh beauty of the natural world. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Simultaneously innocent and sophisticated, this honestly emotional fable shows why every Ballard film -- and his last was released almost a decade ago -- is a special event. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Ostensibly a children's movie, but adults will want to see it, too. Read more

Michael Booth, Denver Post: It's a crime what happened to the wonderful African wilderness movie Duma in 2005. Beautifully directed by veteran Carroll Ballard, Duma fell flat in the United States because of bad timing and abysmal marketing. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Carroll Ballard still works in his ravishing, nearly pointillistic style of organic visual splendor. Read more

John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press: Like its title character, Duma has been left to fend for itself by Warner Bros., which is barely releasing it. A successful showing this weekend will prove that there really is an audience for this brand of thoughtful, literate family film. Read more

Nancy Churnin, Dallas Morning News: For those wishing they still made films like The Black Stallion, today is your lucky day. Read more

Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly: A drama of uncommon beauty and emotional resonance about a boy's journey to return his pet cheetah to its natural habitat. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: Ballard treats the quandary faced by Xan and Duma with a sure hand. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Ballard may give us some lovely pictures here and startlingly alive images of Africa's wildlife. But the movie itself is stuffed. Read more

Jami Bernard, New York Daily News: I can't say enough about that magisterial cheetah. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: This soulful, piercingly beautiful story about a boy and his cheetah marks the welcome return to the screen of the director Carroll Ballard. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Ballard gets laughs where he's supposed to, and thrills in all the right places. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: It's an extraordinary film, and intelligent younger viewers in particular may be enthralled by it. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: Duma, and the sort of intelligent, visually rich filmmaking it represents, are endangered species. Read more

Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle: Family films can be simplistic or condescending, but the joy of Carroll Ballard's work is that it's neither. Read more

Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune: [Director] Ballard's dime-store philosophizing gets schmaltzy, but the emotions seem heartfelt. And as he has done in earlier movies, he incorporates some spectacular backdrops. Read more

Time Out: Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Unlike many lesser movies aimed at families, this has heart, humor, thrilling adventure and stunning visuals. Read more

Scott Foundas, Variety: This intelligent, beautifully made production is a welcome reprieve from such crass (if successful) family pics as Are We There Yet? and The Pacifier. Read more

Ben Kenigsberg, Village Voice: Surprisingly flat. Read more

Philip Kennicott, Washington Post: Visually panoramic, a film that revels in making the expanse of a beautiful place palpable. Read more