大象传媒

Coming of age, the battle for survival, and a couple of furry, four-legged sidekicks make Duma classic family viewing. Pint-sized newcomer Alex Michaeletos turns in a beautifully understated performance as Xan, a troubled boy who goes AWOL with his pet cheetah in the South African desert. While it's hardly original, director Carroll Ballard's yarn is sweet without lapsing into saccharine sentimentality.

Xan's rural idyll is shattered by the death of his father (Campbell Scott) and the decision by his mother (Hope Davis) to up sticks to the big city. It's also a major upheaval for his pet cheetah Duma who's almost fully-grown. His unruly behaviour prompts Xan to recall his father's wish to return Duma to the wild and so together they set off across a hostile environment with little food or water.

"SENSITIVE PERFORMANCES"

Along the way, they encounter a mysterious drifter (Eamonn Walker), but it's a bouncing bush baby who nearly steals the show with wicked pratfalls from the Jim Carrey school of comedy. With credits like goose tale Fly Away Home and The Black Stallion, Ballard continues to show remarkable deftness at coaxing sensitive performances out of animals and children. Just as beguiling are the sweeping landscapes, but Xan's emotional journey (of learning to "let go") is entirely predictable. There's a sense of cosiness that comes with familiarity, but it means the story packs less punch in the final scenes. Still, like the eponymous cat, it'll leave you feeling warm and fuzzy.