The Clan of the Cave Bear

Adopted by the Neanderthal Clan of the Cave Bear, Cro-Magnon Hannah (taking a giant evolutionary leap forward from her previous incarnation in Splash) is maligned for her ability to count beyond ten, dexterity with weapons, and disdain for the males' primitive seduction rites (a fist thumped in the palm of the hand as prelude to some vigorous rutting). In the end this primeval feminist rejects miscegenation with nasty, brutish Stone Age bozos, stalking off into the sunset in search of an appropriately Aryan mate. Devotees of John Sayles' witty, literate screenplays will be disappointed by the repartee of subtitled grunts, while beneath the film's apparent plea for tolerance lies the offensive (if quite possibly true) assumption that tall, tanned Californian blondes represent the highest form of human life. Based on a fat novel by Jean Auel (who subsequently sued the producers), this is Reader's Digest prehistory, though at least director Chapman (cameraman on Raging Bull) makes sure the murky caves look nice.