The Clan of the Cave Bear
Every statuesque, beautiful blonde woman has spent more time in the  company of Neanderthals than she cares to remember. Seems it's always been that way:Clan of the Cave Bear, a 1986 feature scripted by John Sayles and  based on Jean Auel's bestsellingnovelset in prehistoric times,  stars  former mermaid Daryl Hannah as an intelligent Cro-Magnon woman adopted and  raised by lesser-evolved Neanderthals. Berated for her brains, sexually  exploited, and generally treated as uppity chattel, Hannah's character sets out for the far country to see who else is there. Eventually, she finds moreBaywatch-like gods and goddesses similar to herself, including an  Aryan-looking stud with whom she discovers how good sex can feel with a warm,  caring, proto-human. Sayles's writing on this project is forceful but cheeky.  It's hard not to laugh at a number of scenes that shouldn't, in the strictest  sense, be laughed at (the use of subtitles to decipher caveman grunts and  clucks may or may not be an intentional running joke), but one gets the  feeling Sayles looked upon this challenge as a pop exercise instead of (as many  of the book's fans would have preferred) a religious experience. Michael Chapman, ace cinematographer ofMean StreetsandThe Wanderers,  directed with an eye toward primitive exotica and made this a  terrific-looking movie. Author Auel was reportedly unhappy with the final  results on screen, but the film is well worth a fascinated look. With Pamela  Reed and James Remar.--Tom Keogh