Clint Eastwood's ambitious film is a thinly veiled account of the making of John Huston's The African Queen, already well documented in books by Katharine Hepburn and screenwriter Peter Viertel. As "Huston", Eastwood is just marvellous - aristocratic, bombastic and so obsessed with hunting and killing an elephant (not a crime but a sin in the biblical sense) that his movie-making is left on the back burner. He's a monster with enormous charm and charisma. Beautifully filmed on location in Zimbabwe, with decent representations of Bogart, Bacall, Hepburn and producer Sam Spiegel, the movie has pace, drama, a genuine sense of adventure and an astutely critical eye for the vestiges of British imperialism.

Renowned filmmaker John Wilson travels to Africa to direct a new movie, but constantly leaves to hunt elephants and other game, to the dismay of his cast and crew. He eventually becomes obsessed with hunting down and killing one specific elephant.