Squanto: A Warrior's Tale

What starts off as an intriguing adventure yarn with a few unique twists, unfortunately becomes merely a routine yarn, with occasional, silly Indiana Jones overtones.

"Squanto: A Warrior's Tale" is the story of an American Indian living on the East Coast in the early 17th century when he is kidnapped by English explorers.

The Englishmen arrive with apparent good intentions, expressing an interest in developing trade with Squanto's tribe. But the sailors are actually intent on capturing and enslaving some of the Indians, to take them back to England as sideshow freaks.

Squanto (Adam Beach) and another brave named Epenow (Eric Schweig) are captured, taken to England and put on display as "savages." But when Squanto is put into an arena to fight a bear, he seizes the opportunity to escape.

Swinging from the rafters and performing stunts that would have made Douglas Fairbanks blanch, Squanto manages to get to a small boat and sets out to sea in an effort to get home. But a storm leaves him injured and stranded down the coast on a beach, where he is discovered by an order of monks.

The monks nurse Squanto back to health, and as they exchange cultural traditions and beliefs. Squanto also learns English, and apparently forsakes his native language. (Or perhaps it's just the filmmakers forsaking subtitles.) And the next spring, they try to help him get home.

Eventually, Squanto does get back to America, only to find that his village has been destroyed by the English. Despite his travails, however, Squanto makes a plea for tolerance between the Indians and the English, in particular as the Pilgrims arrive.

This isn't a bad idea for a film but the execution becomes progressively more dismal. The centerpiece sequence, with Squanto living with the monks, is the most enjoyable, enlivened by the presence of Mandy Patinkin. (Beach, a Canadian actor, is also good in the lead, a charming screen presence.)

But the narrative is hopelessly muddled, the dialogue is stiff, the characters are all cartoons (especially the villains) and the stunts get sillier as the film goes along.

One of the latter, with Squanto on a horse that leaps from the dock onto a moving ship, rivals the bus leaping over a missing section of freeway overpass in "Speed."

"Squanto" is rated PG for violence.