fancifulflyer
It is surprising that this film hasn't been more well-received. It is well-presented and filled with authentic people (obviously many of those who appear in the film were professional circus performers). The direction was natural and low-key, which allowed the performance of Brittany Bristow (Sophie, the main character) to captivate the audience... our pre-teen daughter liked it a lot. The story was believable and also compellingWas it as fast-paced and heart-thumping as the big-feature films put out by the likes of Disney, Pixar and other major studios? No, but the plot moved along and it made sense. The fact that it was set n a "real" place made it all the more refreshing. Of course, it was also nice to see John Rhys-Davies as well... All the more reason to get your hands on this film. Give your children--and yourself--a treat.
vchimpanzee
Sophie is a teenager whose parents run a zoo. The location is never specified, although the film was made in Canada and the TV reporter has a C on her microphone. But Sophie plans to go to the American Ballet Theatre, so the film might be set in the United States.Since she was four years old, Sheba the elephant has been her best friend. So Sophie is devastated when her parents, dealing with financial problems, have to sell the elephant to Winston Family Circus. Sophie offers to give up her dream of ballet if that's the problem, but that doesn't do any good. Sophie heads to the circus hoping to get the elephant back.Once there, Sophie witnesses trainer Magnus mistreating Sheba and demands that something be done about him. Alistair Winston, who runs the circus his grandfather founded, is being interviewed on live TV, and Sophie's rant interests the reporter, but Winston keeps trying to stop her.Having been accused of animal abuse, which of course Winston's circus would NEVER do, Winston must hire Sophie as Sheba's companion. he demands Sophie earn her keep, which she is willing to do. Magnus has a real problem with Sophie being there. In fact, he has a problem with Sheba. It's not just that Sheba is untrainable, though Sophie could do it. He hates elephants, and there's a reason for that. And Magnus CAN train animals; he does a wonderful job with Caesar the black jaguar and genuinely cares for the animal. Magnus actually believes Sheba will put an end to the circus he will be the next to inherit.Winston disagrees that Sheba is a problem, and when he sees Sophie and Sheba work together, he sees a great opportunity to entertain people. Still, it is not true that he genuinely cares about anyone there, even though he appears to. He does care about the circus that his family started, but also about making money. His best friend, now and when he was a child, is his ventriloquist dummy CW (named for his grandfather Cornelius Winston), so he has to admit he knows what Sophie is going through.Sophie's human best friend is Natalia, a perky acrobat whose hair color changes daily. Natalia can be sad, though, and she does have a terrible incident in her past. Blake was once her partner in the act but now he is the pooper-scooper. He might be a potential romantic interest to one of the girls.So will Sophie get her elephant back? Will she join the circus permanently? Will the various problems of the other circus performers be solved?Brittany Bristow is a wonderful actress (following in the proud tradition of Murphy and Snow), at least for this type of film. She can dance quite well too, and we don't get to see nearly enough of that. As Sophie she has an adorable personality when that is appropriate, and a strong determination and intelligence. Or what Winston calls being a manipulative "minx". And someone, probably not her since the face isn't visible, is quite an acrobat.Erica Durance gives her usual good performance. I like her best perky but she shows she is capable of more. She doesn't really show her full range here, but that's okay.John Rhys-Davies makes a wonderful villain. He's totally convincing when he seems to care about the various people in this film, and I'm not quite certain they should be so suspicious of his intentions. Sure, Winston has a greedy side, but he genuinely shows he is good when he has to.And of course Sheba is quite talented. I don't know the elephant's real name or how many there were, or even if some of the "acting" was animatronic or CGI, but Sheba is talented.This being a circus, we get to see lots of talented performers. Most of them are only on screen for ten seconds or so, but they are very good. There is one little person whose name I don't remember who has plenty of dialogue and seems to do a good job with it.I wasn't happy with most of the music, but this is what young people like. It wasn't really all that bad. Sophie's best dancing, though, was not to classical music, but something like "Once Upon a Time in Mexico"--still good.This is a family film, but not necessarily for younger or more sensitive children. There are a few moments of terror and mild violence, as might be expected with wild animals, and with people with the wrong attitude. Nevertheless, Sophie's claim of abuse is an exaggeration. It's easy to see how Magnus could have abused Sheba, as frustrated as he got, but on screen he never reaches that point. After seeing "Cold Mountain" the same day I saw this, I say what little violence this has is absolutely harmless.It's not perfect. This is one of those formula films, even including the line "That went well", and while it's not overly preachy, the film does seem to take the position that animals don't belong in circuses.It's definitely worth seeing.
dgus82
First review here- forgive me if it's not the greatest. I became an Augustus Prew fan after discovering him in Animals by Marçal Forés. Unfortunately some of his roles are from films in other regions, and Sophie is one of the few I could get my hands on. Brittany Bristow does a good job playing the outspoken Sophie, whom will stop at nothing to help her beloved friend Sheeba the elephant. Following her to the circus she had been sold to, she makes a deal with the new owner- work in exchange to earn Sheeba back. While everyone performed well, Sophie's mother has a hard time convincing me that she has acted for awhile. She just annoyed me for some reason. Bristow does a good job although at times a little cheesy with her lines, and the same goes for Erica Durance (playing a silks performer), when she sort of yells at someone. As a former dancer, I wished that Bristow would've done so a little more. She is very talented in this regard and I enjoyed watching the few moments that she did. Her interaction with Sheeba was great and it is obvious that the two developed a bond while preparing before filming began. She states this in an interview as well. The soundtrack also had some cute songs in it. I don't know why this film has received such low ratings. Don't get me wrong- it's definitely no masterpiece, but overall I found it to be pleasant. Animals stuck in a circus or a zoo make me a little depressed, but the movie ending and message is redeeming. I could've done without a certain sad moment in the film but I understand, it was needed for drama, I guess...I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot more of Mr. Prew in the future, and for this I am VERY excited.
BreakawayDaily
I always enjoy a good animal movie and have always loved circus movies since Big Top Pee Wee! This film has both and tells the story of a BIG friendship! It also has a bit of a love story weaved in thanks to the talented Augustus Prew, who I didn't know could do air-ballet! It was actually really cute and a well done film the whole family can enjoy. Maybe I am just biased because August Prew could recite the phone book and keep my attention! One big problem I had with it was the ending. (Spoiler) Sophie ships Sheba back to her "home" of Africa. I thought this was inconsistent as her parents own a zoo, and thus she is saying that all the animals in her parents zoo should be shipped back to their "home" too. I am not sure why this film is so underrated, I think it is just as good as any other animal movie and had a fresh story. Good | 7/10For more film reviews check out Breakaway Daily (http://breakawaydaily.com)
