'Wild America'

What a harebrained scheme: A teenaged trio roves the country in search of dangerous animals to film for a homemade 16mm documentary. But guess what -- it works. Though flawed, this little yarn has charm and originality. The rough-and-ready Stouffer brothers, Marty (Scott Bairstow), Mark (Devon Sawa) and Marshall (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), don’t know squat about filmmaking. But they’re audacious, ambitious and quite likeable. Better yet, they have a nose for trouble and great instincts for escape.

These instincts are tested repeatedly, by alligators, moose, rattlesnakes, stampeding horses and even exploding bombs on a military target range. The boys’ ultimate quarry is a clutch of full-grown bears that den together in a cave in the Rockies. But are these bears real or mythical? Let’s just say that when our heroes visit the cave, they capture some footage that’s bound to make their friends whoop and holler back home in Fort Smith, Ark. -- if the boys ever make it home.

For a film with a wildlife-conservation theme, "Wild America" contains bloopers that will make any naturalist cringe; for example, a great horned owl that flits through a desert in broad daylight. Also, the story has one climax too many and an expendable subplot about an airplane. But it’s decent family fare.

WILD AMERICA (PG) — No objectionable language or sexual content. Scenes of wild animals threatening teen-aged boys will delight parents, but may frighten kids under 6.