in the Los Angeles Times called the film, "... subtle, complex and hypnotic ... triumphant filmmaking!" Brendon Hanley of Allmovie also liked the film, especially Smith's performance, and wrote, "Wolf's protagonist [is] wonderfully played by the reliable character actor Charles Martin Smith... The result is a quirky, deceptively simple meditation on life." Ronald Holloway, film critic of Variety magazine, gave the film a mostly positive review, and wrote "For the masses out there who love nature films, and even those who don't, Carroll Ballard's more than fits the commercial bill and should score well too with critical suds<sic> on several counts." Some critics found the premise of Never Cry Wolf a bit hard to believe. Vincent Canby, film critic for The New York Times, wrote, "I find it difficult to accept the fact that the biologist, just after an airplane has left him in the middle of an icy wilderness, in a snowstorm, would promptly get out his typewriter and, wearing woolen gloves, attempt to type up his initial reactions. Canby added, the film was "a perfectly decent if unexceptional screen adaptation of Farley Mowat's best-selling book about the author's life among Arctic wolves." The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 100% based on reviews from eighteen critics, with an average rating of 7.7 out of 10. Awards Wins Boston Society of Film Critics Awards: 4th BSFC Award; Best Cinematography, Hiro Narita; 1984. Hawaii International Film Festival: Excellence in Cinematography Award, Hiro Narita; 1984. Motion Picture Sound Editors: Golden Reel Award; Best Sound Editing – Sound Effects; 1984. National Society of Film Critics Awards: NSFC Award Best Cinematography, Hiro Narita; 1984. Western Heritage Awards: Bronze Wrangler; Theatrical Motion Picture, Carroll Ballard; 1984. Nominations Academy Awards: Best Sound; Alan Splet, Todd Boekelheide, Randy Thom and David Parker; 1984. Box office The film opened in limited release October 7, 1983 and went into wide circulation January 20, 1984. The film was in theatres for 192 days (27 weeks) and the total US gross sales were $27,668,764. In its widest release, the film appeared in 540 theatres. Comparisons to book There are several differences in the film when compared to Mowat's book. In the book, Ootek and Mike's roles are reversed, Mike is actually Ootek's older brother (Ootek is a teenager) and Ootek, although speaking mostly in Inuktitut, communicates openly with Mowat while Mike is more reserved. The