`WILD AMERICA' WORTH THE TRIP.

Byline: Janet Weeks Daily News Staff Writer

As wholesome as a glass of milk and as corny as, well, corn, ``Wild America'' is a film with a lot of heart and humor. It is ``Old Yeller'' for the '90s - charming, schmaltzy yet immensely appealing, thanks to a trio of fresh young actors.

Parents searching for sweet family fare after enduring one of the many loud, chaotic summer blockbusters will find a pleasant alternative in this. Indeed, in many ways ``Wild America'' is the anti-``Batman & Robin,'' although both films are from Warner Bros.

``Batman and Robin'' features a millionaire in a high-tech bat costume who uses an array of gadgets to save the world.

``Wild America'' features three middle-class kids from - of all places - Fort Smith, Ark., who, armed only with a camera and courage, defeat ignorance, fear and an occasional wild creature (including bats).

Based on a true story, the film tells the tale of Martin, Mark and Marshall Stouffer, three brothers who, faced with working the summer in their father's carburetor shop, set out to capture endangered predators on film.

It stars three teen heartthrobs: the ubiquitous Jonathan Taylor Thomas (``Home Improvement,'' ``Tom and Huck,'' etc.) and the less well-known Devon Sawa and Scott Bairstow.

Over the course of the brothers' journey into America's wilderness, they have frightening encounters with an angry moose, an alligator, bears and a wolf. The scenes are played out as tall Western fables - you don't have to believe them to enjoy them.

The scarier moments in ``Wild America'' come when the boys are confronting each other.

The boys continually pull dangerous pranks on each other, which they capture on film to be shown later in their father's garage. In one scene, the two older siblings strap their youngest brother into a seat and lower him into a pool, into which they toss firecrackers.

Later, they drag him behind a fast-moving dune buggy contraption while a truck follows in pursuit.

Of course, everything wraps up nicely by the film's end. The Stouffer brothers have launched careers as wildlife documentarians, Mom gets the trip to Hawaii she always dreamed of, and Dad learns to let go of his control-freak tendencies.

As brothers, Thomas, Sawa and Bairstow are believable, fun and appealing to watch. Frances Fisher and Jamey Sheridan provide solid support as their parents.

The film loses a point for hokey special effects (I've seen scarier looking teddy bears) and for setting the family in Arkansas but only requiring Sheridan and Fisher to have accents.

But it gains back what it loses in post-production sleight-of-hand in its bigger values. It has emotion, breathtaking scenery of the untamed wilderness and a wild American spirit.

THE FACTS

The film: ``Wild America'' (PG).

The stars:Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Devon Sawa, Scott Bairstow, Frances Fisher, Jamey Sheridan.

Behind the scenes: Directed by William Dear. Written by David Michael Wieger. Produced by James G. Robinson, Irby Smith and Mark Stouffer. Released by Warner Bros.

Running time: One hour, 40 minutes.

Playing: Citywide.

Our rating: Three Stars

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: Marty (Scott Bairstow), Marshall (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) and Mark Stouffer (Devon Sawa) share a brotherly moment in ``Wild America.''