Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, August 19, 1994                   TAG: 9408230018
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KATHERINE REED STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

`ANDRE' IS REALLY CORNY, BUT IT DIDN'T HAVE TO BE

Parents who get roped into seeing this movie might well be tempted to blow 'em back - or arrive at the movie theater with a bottle of Emetrol. You know, the stuff that is supposed to keep other stuff down. Because "Andre" is one of those movies that bypasses the heart and goes directly to the stomach.

It's not as if parents who take their kids to the movies don't get accustomed to the corn factor. But the director of "Andre," George Miller - who also directed "The Man From Snowy River" - pumps this "based on a true story" for every ounce of pathos and unadulterated cute he can get from it.

And it really was unnecessary, because the true story of Andre - a seal who was "adopted" by a Rockport, Maine, family, was returned to the wild but continued to return home to them every summer for more than 20 years - has all the elements of a successful story for children that older people might also have been able to appreciate.

Contributing to the painfulness of this film experience is Keith Carradine as Harry Whitney, the harbor master and semiadolescent father who, with his exceptionally adorable child Toni (Tina Majorino), takes in Andre as a sick pup and nurses him back to health. Carradine looks like he watched one too many episodes of "Leave It To Beaver" in preparing for this role. Ward Cleaver as Dr. Dolittle, that is.

Yes, the story is set in the early '60s, so there is some place for a "simpler" version of family life. Mom (Chelsea Field) bakes bread, explains Dad's gaffes to the kids and wears ponytails and A-line skirts, but Field manages to bring a little reality to this Norman Rockwell mess. No mean feat.

For kids between the ages of maybe 4 and 8, "Andre" may be sufficiently entertaining. The seal does lots of cute, funny tricks. He's really a hoot in sunglasses and a Hawaiian shirt (ar-ar). But younger kids will lose interest between tricks, and older kids will find the subordinate storylines a little dated and silly.

In a summer that has offered a surprising number of decent children's movies - especially "Black Beauty" - "Andre" deserves a ... well, put your tongue between your lips and just blow.

Andre *1/2

A Paramount release, showing at Salem Valley 8; rated PG for slight profanity. 1 hour and 35 minutes.