Grizzly Man MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +1 1/2 Content: -3

Grizzly Man is a documentary about conservationist Timothy Treadwell. For 13 summers, Treadwell filmed his expeditions in the Alaskan wilderness as he lived among the grizzly bears. As their self-proclaimed protector, he learned to mimic the bears and believed that he had developed friendships with the animals. For Treadwell, the bears' world was an ideal, naturalistic form of existence in contrast to the destructive, selfish and uncaring world of humanity. While he was blinded by a romantic view of nature, he was often dismayed and angered by its harsh realities. In his fondness of the wilderness and the bears, he tempted fate by living dangerously close to huge, hungry predators. One summer, tragedy struck. Both Treadwell and his companion, Amie Huguenard, were attacked and eaten by bears. Against the gruesome backdrop of death, the story of Treadwell's confused life emerges in sharp relief.

For much of Grizzly Man, viewers are subjected to Timothy Treadwell's wild ramblings. In the best case, these scenes provide insight into his behaviors and motivations. But in the worst, they degrade into a flurry of angry mockery and cursing, directed even toward the gods of various world religions. The narrator's commentary - the film's best feature - exposes Treadwell's paranoid battle against poachers who were virtually nonexistent and shows how the reality of his life was far from his idealized view. In the end, Treadwell's story and the narrator's commentary convey the hopelessness that results from a godless worldview. While Treadwell expected to find perfection in unredeemed nature, the narrator rejects perfection altogether. Neither man recognizes Christ as the perfect redeemer of corrupted humanity and nature. For foul language, including about 40 f-words and sexual monologue, and an ambiguous message, Preview recommends that viewers avoid Grizzly Man.

Preview Reviewer: Shaun Daugherty
Distributor: Lions Gate