Review: 'The Wolf and the Lion' is ridiculous family fare, but the four-legged stars and their two-legged friend are charming

The four-legged stars in the family film “The Wolf and the Lion” fare a lot better than their two-legged co-stars, if only because they aren’t saddled with clunky dialogue and ludicrous plot development.

Alma (played by Molly Kunz) is a 20-year-old student pianist who seems to have her life mapped out in front of her. She’ll ace her upcoming piano competition, score a slot with the L.A. Philharmonic, and her career is set. But the death of her grandfather, who raised her when her parents died years earlier, forces Alma to return home, to an island in a lake in the forests of Canada.

In her grandfather’s cabin, she learns that a female snow wolf has been venturing close to the cabin, friendly but still wild. One day, the she-wolf enters the cabin, looking for a place to rest and nurse her wolf pup. At the same time, a storm cause a plane to crash near the cabin — and a lion cub, destined for a place in a circus, lands literally in Alma’s arms.

Soon Alma is cutting up steak meat and feeding two young predators, with the reluctant aid of her godfather, Joe (played by the great Canadian actor Graham Greene). The animals — Alma names the wolf Mozart, and the lion Dreamer — roughhouse with each other and bond like animal siblings. (I’m not sure if it’s heartwarming or creepy that the filmmakers raised a wolf pup and a lion cub for the purpose of making this movie — and that they now live together on a reservation owned by one of the executive producers.)

But the animals’ presence on the island doesn’t go unnoticed. There’s a wolf researcher (Charlie Carrick), who wants to preserve the wolf and help the species re-establish its wild populations. And there’s a nasty circus operator (Evan Buliung) who aims, with drugs and bullwhip, to tame a lion for the ring.

French director Gilles de Maistre developed the story with his wife, Prune, who is credited with the screenplay, which is both earnest and stilted. The wolf scientist and the wildlife protection officers are played for bumbling comic relief, while the circus boss is a one-note villain.

Kunz has to hold her own with her furry co-stars (reportedly, she was one of the few cast members who could get close to the animals), and she does so with poise and an adventurous spirit. She even makes Alma’s questionable choices — without which there would be no movie — come off as charming.

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‘The Wolf and the Lion’

★★1/2

Opens Friday, February 4, in area theaters. Rated PG for thematic elements, language and some peril. Running time: 98 minutes.