Flora is a circus elephant who can no longer perform her tricks. The night before she’s scheduled to be euthanized, the circus owner’s 14-year old daughter, Dawn, sneaks Flora from the circus. All that stands between them and the safety of the elephant preserve is two hundred kilometers of woods, one raging river, two elephant hunters and the fear of not making it.

I’m a sucker for an animal themed movie.  Always have been ever since I was a little fella, so when I was searching for something light to watch, a movie centred around an elephant was hard to ignore.

There’s not a great deal to say about this one.  It’s a fairly low budget affair, with a mostly unknown cast.  Tom Arnold puts in a turn as the villain of the piece, and is actually pretty watchable – doing less of his routine silliness, and playing the bad guy pretty well.  David Arquette also plays a minor roll, and does a fine job too.  I find him strangely likeable in most things.  There’s a certain underdog charm that always gets me invested in his characters…

On a different note, have you seen any of the wrestling that Arquette has been doing recently?  The dude is bringing it..  But I digress…

The main characters here are Dawn, played by Jenny Ortega, and of course the elephant.  Ortega will go on to bigger and better roles in the future for sure, she’s a talented young actress.

Yes, it’s a little predictable, but at the end of the day, Saving Flora is a warm hearted family film, and it works well.

It won’t be for everyone, but will surely appeal to animal lovers and families.

6/10

Review by Rick Trewin