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The Country Bears (2002)

I’m delighted to say that my long search for a good children’s movie (after a long drought) has come to an end. I watched “The Country Bears” with my kids this afternoon, and we all loved it.

Beary Barrington (voiced by Haley Joel Osment) has always felt a little out of place in his family. Could it be because they’re all humans and he’s a bear? His parents try to tell him he’s not adopted, but he knows something just doesn’t feel right. His brother Dex finally tells him that he was found abandoned in the woods and that the Barringtons took compassion on him and brought him home. Now that Beary knows the truth, he wants to return to his roots.

He’s a huge fan of “The Country Bears,” but the group broke up years ago and all that remains is their old concert hall. Beary decides to go there and learn more about being a bear. When he arrives, he finds that an unscrupulous banker by the name of Thimple (Christopher Walken) wants to foreclose on the hall and bulldoze it. If the Bears can’t come up with $20,000 in four days, Country Bear Hall will be gone.

Beary is determined to help his idols, and comes up with the idea of reuniting the band for a benefit concert. He goes with the remaining band members on a cross-country journey to find the other bears, and along the way, they have a lot of fabulous adventures.

Meanwhile, Beary’s parents think he’s been abducted, and two bumbling police officers are sent on his trail, providing a lot of physical comedy.

In the end, Beary learns that those who love you the most are truly your family, and they all live happily ever after.

There’s so much comedy in this movie. My favorite part is when Tennesee and his lady love Trixie are singing a duet. They are voiced by Don Henley and Bonnie Raitt, and we see Don and Bonnie in the audience, enjoying the music. My kids didn’t get the inference until I explained it, but then they thought it was pretty hysterical that they were listening to themselves.

My kids’ favorite part is when the police follow the Bears into a car wash. They make the mistake of opening the car windows and get sucked out into the rollers.

There are scads of cameo appearances in this film. We see Willie Nelson, Elton John – and one of the bears has a duet with Brian Setzer. It was fabulous.

So get yourself on down to Bear Country with this great G-rated film. You can enjoy it with your whole family, from your babies to your grandmothers.

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