The Dark Divide

Environmentalists will love it. The panoramas are terrific, and its (Spotted?) owl scene is unforgettable. A supporting cast, such as the convenience store clerk and logging crew's boss, did a fine job adding substance to what was essentially a one man show.

That one man is this movie's problem. The actor portrayed Bob Pyle as a combination absent-minded professor and Deputy Barney Fife, taking every opportunity to strip down to his skivvy shorts or worse. Add to that an almost perpetual half-snarl, half-befuddled expression, and the result is a lead character who is hard to care about. During the last half hour I was rooting for Bigfoot.

Another problem was the director's choices for employing flashbacks. Several scenes involved quiet hours in the morning, evening, or night, and would have been perfect for flashbacks to when Pyle was with his wife. But Putnam's timing for using them ruined the story's momentum, which was already a challenge to establish given the premise of a butterfly collector wandering along forest trails.

Two stars for the supporting cast, one for wallpaper-class scenery shots, and one for that surprise in the end.