Critics have been too kind to this film, which doesn't age well. It's trying to be an action film, a romance, and a comedy all at once, and it fails on the last two. We are supposed to believe that the 25-year-old Dallas falls for the 52-year-old Sean (played by a much older-looking than that Wayne). She plays the helpless sort of female that might have been tolerated in the 40's but in the early 60's just merely insults women. And Elsa can't act. For some reason Hawks wants to throw in some screwball comedy humor, but the writing of this (and the romance) is terrible; in fact, cringeworthy. Much of the hoped for hilarity centers around Red Buttons and his drinking. Without the admittedly exciting action scenes of capturing the animals, the film is dreadful. But in 2021 the idea of locking up these magnificent creatures in zoos doesn't exactly please viewers these days.
Review of Hatari!
