by Eleanor Mannikka
synopsis
The "bête lumineuse" is Quebecois argot for "moose," an animal never once spotted by the city slickers who escape the stresses of job, home, and commute to go drinking and bonding and supposedly hunting in the wilds of northern Quebec -- although their hunting skills would give no cause for distress to the moose population. The point about macho lives gone astray is embedded well enough so that director Pierre Perrault might have shortened the two-hour running time and come away more on target in the end.
