Do we really need yet another movie about a white woman who moves to Africa? Kim Basinger is back in her first role since her Oscar winning turn as a prostitute in LA Confidential. (Basically, she stars in “Touched by an Elephant.”) In “I Dreamed of Africa” she plays Kuki Gallman. That’s right “Kuki,” which in not some lame name made up by a screenwriter, it’s the actual name of the real person this story is based on. Kuki breaks her leg in a freak auto accident which is a real tragedy since, wow, I hate to see a hot blonde chick in traction. Kuki is divorced and has a seven year-old son. She’s looking for a change in her life and marries Paulo who moves them to Kenya to seek adventure in Africa. Life is rough when you have to fend off poachers, snakes and lions while still looking like a million bucks.
After a series of predictable and uninteresting hardships, the main conflict of the movie centers on Kuki’s unhappiness over her husband’s constant hunting. All he wants to do is hunt in the wild. And, of course, that’s where all the real action takes place, yet we never see any of it since the whole story is told from the boring point of view of Kuki who is, essentially a stay-at-home mom living in the wilds of Africa.
Basically what this true story amounts to is a Lifetime Channel made for cable movie projected on the big screen. On the positive side, um, the photography is nice and Basinger is still hot. But you should avoid this film and take a trip to the zoo instead.
