Main Cast: Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Devon Sawa, Scott Bairstow, Frances Fisher, Jamey Sheridan
Release Year: 1997
Country: US
Run Time: 106 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Based on the true saga of the Stouffer brothers, this movie is an unusual combination of comedy film and nature documentary. In the 1960s in rural Arkansas, Marty Stouffer (Jamey Sheridan) grooms his three sons to take over the family auto parts business. But the sons are more interested in animals, photography, racing cars and trucks, and impressing girls. Marty, Jr. (Scott Bairstow) and Mark (Devon Sawa) fight frequently with their stern father over his work demands and their yen for adventure. Finally, their mother Agnes (Frances Fisher) intercedes, and the patriarch agrees to let the two boys take a cross-country trip to film a nature documentary. The youngest son, Marshall (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), stows away in his brothers' van and joins them on their travels. They head west, encountering a variety of animals and surviving many dangerous scrapes. The brothers' wacky exploits contribute to a new kind of participatory nature cinematography. In real life, the Stouffer film was shown on national television in 1977, and all three brothers became documentarians and served as advisers on this film biography. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide
Tracey Walter - Leon; Don Stroud - Stango; Zack Ward - D.C.; Claudia Stedelin - Carrie; Anastasia Spivey - Donna Jo; Leighanne Wallace - Tanna; Amy Lee Douglas - Julie Anne; Danny Glover - Mountain Man
Credit
Jack Ballance - Art Director, Pam Dixon - Casting, Kearie Peak - Co-producer, Mary E. McLeod - Costume Designer, Benjamin Rosenberg - First Assistant Director, Tom Zapata - First Assistant Director, William Dear - Director, O. Nicholas Brown - Editor, Stuart H. Pappe - Editor, Gary Barber - Executive Producer, Steve Tisch - Executive Producer, Bill Todman, Jr. - Executive Producer, Joel McNeely - Composer (Music Score), Steven Jordan - Production Designer, David Burr - Cinematographer, James G. Robinson - Producer, Irby Smith - Producer, Mark Stouffer - Producer, Mary H. Ellis - Sound/Sound Designer, David Michael Wieger - Screenwriter
Marshall Stouffer (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) has always been the stunt double for his older brothers', Mark (Devon Sawa) and Marty Jr. (Scott Bairstow) home movies. Being the youngest, Marshall knew it came with the territory. Though when Marty wants to follow his dream and become a film maker instead of running the family business, a mechanic's shop, Marty Sr, the boys father, finds the whole idea of film making to be be a waste of the boys talents and will leave them nowhere in life. Once Marty decides to set out and film a documentary on endangered species across America, his younger brother Mark decided to tag along for the ride. What they do not know is that Marshall had stowed away in the truck and is off on an amazing, summer long, adventure across Wild America. The three brothers encounter dangers and experience brotherly hardships on their journey so they can accomplish their dreams no matter what the price may be.
