Mein Freund Ben – Der Film (TV Movie 2002)

Mein Freund Ben – Der Film: Directed by David S. Cass Sr.. With Dean Cain, Corbin Bernsen, William Katt, Martin Kove. When a boy is left in the care of his mountain-ranger uncle, he learns valuable lessons about man’s relationship with wild animals, and how the mayor poses a threat to local legend Ben – a grizzly bear.

“A boy from Los Angeles (Reiley McClendon) visits his ranger uncle (Dean Cain) in remote Northern California where he tries to save a friendly black bear from poachers and a rancher whou0026#39;s convinced the bear is slaughtering his sheep (Corbin Bernsen). Gil Birmingham plays an AmerIndian ranger while Cody Weiant appears as a tomboy who assists the kid u0026amp; bear.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eReleased to TV, u0026quot;Gentle Benu0026quot; (2002) wasnu0026#39;t based on the late 60u0026#39;s TV series, which took place in the Florida Everglades as opposed to Northern Cal. The movie was popular enough to produce a sequel with the same cast the next year. It belongs to the family wilderness drama/adventure genre and comes across as a meshing of movies like u0026quot;Prophecyu0026quot; (1979), u0026quot;Magic in the Wateru0026quot; (1995) and u0026quot;Free Willyu0026quot; (1993), albeit with a TV budget. (Yes, u0026quot;Prophecyu0026quot; is a horror/thriller but, like the other two flicks, was shot in the same general region, has an Indian side character and involves a threatened animal species).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAshley Laurence from the Hellraiser series is on hand as the rangeru0026#39;s potential babe, Dakota. Sheu0026#39;s winsome and looks great in jeans; I wish she had a bigger role though. Ashley, the magnificent locations, the bear and the quality cast make this TV flick worth catching for those interested. Martin Kove even shows up as a genial mountain man.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe movie runs 1 hour, 29 minutes and was shot in Placer County, Northern California (Auburn u0026amp; Foresthill).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGRADE: B-/C+”