Released in 1997, "The Sign of the Beaver" (aka "Keeping the Promise") stars Keith Carradine and Annette O'Toole as a couple who decide to move from Massachusetts to the wilderness of Maine about eight years after the French and Indian War in the 18th century. After building a small cabin in Maine, the father leaves his 13 year-old son (Brendan Fletcher) behind while he goes back to get the rest. As the family experiences hardships traveling to the cabin, the boy faces challenges with dubious frontiersmen and Natives alike. Gordon Tootoosis plays Sakniss and Maury Chaykin plays Loomis.
The story takes place in the Northeast not long after the events of 1992's "The Last of the Mohicans," but it naturally lacks the spit and polish of that major production. The good news is that most of the principles offer great performances despite the limitations of the production. For instance, O'Toole, Carradine, Fletcher and Tootoosis do quality work here, especially the first two. The worst acting comes from Chaykin during the bear trap sequence. The score's great and the locations/sets/costumes are good, although the clothes sometimes look too new and colorful.
To enjoy a movie like this you have to accept its low-budget limitations, like the bad acting noted above or the too-nice cabin interiors or some of the artificial-looking winter scenes at the end. If you can overlook these weaknesses and you appreciate frontier-oriented stories, this is a worthwhile movie. While touted as a "family" movie and G-rated, it's in some ways more hardcore and horrifying than most R-rated horror flicks because the struggles the people face really happened in that era. For instance, there's a death/grieving/venting scene that's potent. The screenplay was based on the children's historical novel by Elizabeth George Speare, but it contains adult-oriented elements. In other words, it's not just for kids. It's G-rated, but don't expect Disney.
The film runs 95 minutes and was shot in Ontario.
GRADE: B-
