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(About Our Ads) "I DREAMED OF AFRICA" (2000) (Kim Basinger, Vincent Perez) (PG-13) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Moderate Moderate Heavy Moderate Moderate Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Mild Minor Mild None Minor Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Moderate Mild Extreme Mild Moderate QUICK TAKE: Drama: After moving from Italy to Africa, a strong-willed woman faces various obstacles as she tries to set up a home, raise her family and grow as a person while living on a Kenyan ranch. PLOT: Kuki (KIM BASINGER) is a divorced woman who's raising her seven-year-old son, Emanuele (LIAM AIKEN), in Italy with the help of her somewhat snobbish socialite mother, Franca (EVA MARIE SAINT). Feeling that she's stopped growing as a person, Kuki gets the chance for a rebirth of sorts after a car accident leaves her hospitalized and soon leads to a romance with the car's driver, Paolo Gallmann (VINCENT PEREZ). Having heard stories of Africa from her father and learning that Paolo formerly ran a ranch in Kenya, the two get married and, despite Franca's objections, decide to start life anew on the Dark Continent. While initially a bit intimidated but impressed with the scenery, Kuki sets up home with the help of local ranch assistants, Simon (LANCE REDDICK) and Wanjiku (CONNIE CHIUME), and is happy to see that Emanuele has quickly adjusted to life in the wild. While Kuki becomes acclimated to her new surroundings and the responsibilities of living on such a ranch, she must not only contend with the various degrees of wildlife surrounding her and the poachers who prey on them, but also Paolo's long absences on trips with his many buddies, including Declan (DANIEL CRAIG), who manages the massive ranch. As the years pass and Emanuele (GARRETT STROMMEN) grows up into a young man, Kuki becomes more resilient and self-sufficient after dealing with the many obstacles and tragedies that interfere with her goal of living a happy life in her new home. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? Unless they're fans of someone in the cast or are in interested in Africa in some fashion, it's not very likely. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13 For a scene of nudity/sensuality and some violent/traumatic episodes. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: KIM BASINGER plays a strong-willed woman who overcomes various obstacles and tragedies in her life while trying to raise her family in a new country. VINCENT PEREZ plays her husband, a man who loves her but isn't above taking several weeklong excursions with his friends while essentially leaving his wife and young son home alone. LIMA AIKEN and GARRETT STROMMEN play their son at ages seven and seventeen respectively, a boy/young man with an adventurous spirit and a love for snakes. EVA MARIE SAINT plays Kuki's somewhat snobbish socialite mother who doesn't think it's a good idea for her daughter and grandson to live in Africa, but she comes for many visits anyway. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this PG-13 rated film. Some foreplay between a husband and wife involves some partial nudity (the top of his bare butt, the sides of her bare breasts) and implied marital sex. Some male and female full frontal nudity is briefly seen in some museum pieces (a statue and two paintings). Several characters die (one from a poisonous snake bite) and create tense family scenes, while that, several other scenes (including a car wreck and an unrelated windstorm), and the bloody results of poaching may be unsettling and/or tense for some viewers. Some thugs rob and beat up a man, while a lion injures a family dog. Those thugs and poachers have bad attitudes, as does the husband for leaving his wife for extended amounts of time while he's out having fun. Meanwhile, profanity is rated as minor due to only a few profanities being uttered, some drinking (and possible previous drunkenness) and smoking occur, as does a bit of behavior that could be imitated. Should this summary not answer your questions about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, we suggest that you take a closer look at our more detailed content listings. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Leaving a party, a man states that he'll buy everyone a drink. One of Kuki's friends pours what looks like champagne or wine while visiting her in the hospital. Some people drink wine and other alcoholic beverages at a party, including Paulo. Simon serves some drinks to Kuki, Paulo and another man. Kuki finds Paulo and his buddies asleep and/or passed out on the floor with empty beer bottles around them. Kuki has some wine by herself with dinner. Kuki finds many empty beer bottles in Emanuele's room (where he sleeps as a teenager). People drink beer and wine at a party. BLOOD/GORE After being in a car accident, several passengers are bloody, including Kuki who has some blood running from her mouth and nose and has a bloody cut on her leg. Later in the hospital, we see Kuki whose face is puffy/bruised from the impact, while Paolo has stitches holding together a gash over his eye (along with abrasions/bruises). We see a partially decomposed, dead elephant (and we see some of its ribs). One of the family's dogs is bloody after a lion swipes it with its paw. We see a dead cow that appears all dried up. We see some blood on Paulo's leg as well as on Kuki's sleeves after a buffalo has gored Paulo (not seen). We see a dead elephant whose tusks have been removed. Paulo is a little bloody and bruised after several men beat him. We see a body in a coffin (but beyond being dead, it's not bloody or gory). We see a dead rhino with a bloody stump where it's horn once was, some other blood on it and in the water around it. A character foams at the mouth after being bitten by a poisonous snake. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Paulo has both for taking extended jaunts and expeditions with his pals and essentially leaving Kuki and Emanuele by themselves (and without telling Kuki how long he'll be gone). Poachers obviously have both types of attitudes for their behavior. Some men rob and beat Paulo. FRIGHTENING SCENES Some viewers may find a scene where a car driven by Paulo and containing Kuki and others is nearly hit by a swerving truck and then crashes as unsettling, tense and/or suspenseful (particularly since the car rolls over, and throws out some of its passengers who are wounded or possibly dead). For those who don't like snakes, there are several scenes that might be tense to them: Young Emanuele comes across a snake and picks it up (with Kuki yelling for him to put it down for fear that it's poisonous); later he picks up another snake he finds in a stream; he "milks" a poisonous snake for its venom; and a person is bit by a poisonous snake and everyone reacts to this and the victim's foaming at the mouth, and tries to save that person's life, etc. At night, the family's dogs hear something, react, and then go running off into the darkness where the family then sees them after a lion (that injures one of the dogs with a swipe of its paw). Kuki encounters and then drives a hungry elephant from her garden at night. Paulo's friends rush him into the house after reporting that a buffalo gored him. As such, we see them clear a table, place him on it, and briefly work on him. A massive and destructive windstorm strikes the ranch and everyone scrambles to secure things and take cover. A man suddenly aims a gun at Paulo, as then do others, who collectively rob Paulo and make him strip off most of his clothes. They then proceed to hit and kick him on the ground (to the point that he's rather bruised when we later see him). GUNS/WEAPONS Rifles/Knives: Carried or worn by various characters, as well as held on some captured poachers. Shotguns: Used by Paulo and another man to shoot skeet. Rifle: Used by a man to put an animal out of its misery (we only hear the shot). Handguns/Rifles: Used by men to accost and then rob Paolo. Rifles: Used in something of a 21-gun salute at a funeral. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "Bastard." Showing Emanuele how to get rid of a bad dream (by drawing the image of it on a piece of paper and then tearing it up), Paulo then ignites that paper with a cigarette lighter and drops it into a trashcan. Some kids may be inspired to pick up random snakes they find outdoors (just as Emanuele does). At a party, Emanuele and his girlfriend take turns walking blindfolded across a support beam that's many feet above the floor. JUMP SCENES A poisonous snake suddenly shoots some venom at Kuki (but it's inside a terrarium). MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A mild amount of suspenseful/ominous music plays in a few scenes. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 1 damn, 1 hell, 1 S.O.B., 3 uses of "Oh God," 2 uses of "God" and 1 use of "Dear God" as exclamations. SEX/NUDITY In the background of a scene set in a museum, we see a classic statue of a nude man (full frontal nudity). We then see two classic paintings of nude women (showing full frontal nudity). Kuki and Paulo briefly kiss in bed, but Emanuele interrupts and crawls into bed with them. We see the top of Paulo's bare butt as he walks nude into the bedroom and stands and then kneels before Kuki who's sitting on their bed. They kiss and he pulls down her robe allowing us to see her bare back as well as several glimpses of the sides of her bare breasts. More passionate kissing follows and he then climbs on top of her on the bed (but the camera tilts upward and we don't see anything else). SMOKING Paulo smokes around five times, while various other men smoke in various scenes. TENSE FAMILY SCENES We learn that Kuki is divorced. Paulo's long absences put a bit of a strain on his and Kuki's marriage. A character must deal with the deaths and funerals of two significant people in their family. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Living in Africa. Poachers. Kuki's resilience and determination to make a life for herself and her family no matter the obstacles and tragedies facing her. VIOLENCE Several people, including Kuki and Paolo, are severely wounded in a car accident. A man briefly recounts a story of a married couple killing their children and then committing joint suicide (none of which is seen). A lion injures one of the family's dogs with a swipe of its paw (it's later shot to be put out of its misery - we only hear the shot). Paulo is gored in the leg by a buffalo (not seen, although we briefly see his leg wound). Kuki throws some uncooked pasta at Paolo for leaving her once again. A massive and destructive windstorm strikes the ranch and destroys part of it. Throughout the movie, we see several views of the animals the poachers have killed (although we don't see the actual killings). Men hold guns on some captured poachers and Paolo violently grabs one of them and has to be pulled away. A man suddenly aims a gun at Paulo, as then do others, who collectively rob Paulo and make him strip off most of his clothes. They then proceed to hit and kick him on the ground (to the point that he's rather bruised when we later see him). We learn that a person has been accidentally killed. A person dies after being bitten by a poisonous snake. Reviewed May 1, 2000 / Posted May 5, 2000