Wow! Such a good movie.

Touches You

To me, this movie is perfection.

As Good As It Gets

I'm puzzled by reviews that tell viewers that if they do not enjoy documentaries they should not see this. Is there a chance potential viewers might be confused and think this has chimps performing a scripted movie? I found Chimpanzees a very interesting look into what life is like for chimps, a documentary difficult to make but with continuously great shots so you felt completely part of the events. As for difficult situations to watch in the animal world, without describing what the situations were, I was certainly more than pleased with how they presented such situations in the film as I fully got the gist of the situations without the disgusting aspects. Who needs that??? Really! If you want that, just watch the news about Oakland, CA and the gory detail about the violence there to get your fill of disgusting situations. Living near Oakland, I have enough real violence in my daily life already to dwell on the specifics of what happens out in the jungle. This documentary certainly did not gloss over the situations as it had a major impact on the events throughout the film but presented them very tastefully for viewers of all ages.

Like Jane, Goodale I to love chimpanzees. Documentaries like this help to save the lives of so many animals. People need to see just what we have done to the earth.So many animals have been killed off that we can only see them in films like this. It sad but true we as people have lost sight of everything that is really important in life, that matters most. And that is saving life not taking it, for our own gain. That is my mom's opinion on in this documentary . And the sad thing is everything she said is true. We often take things for granted, in life we never truly appreciate it . Until it is gone , much like our planet we are now just starting to realize. How important it is to preserve . Our environment and it is wildlife , but look how much damage we have caused in the process! All in the name of progress , that is why these films are important . To send a message that that life here is precious and we need protect it before . It is too late and all as we know it will be extinct!

Calling Chimpanzee a documentary is only half right, for this sometimes contrived narrative seems so fabricated as almost to call into question the authenticity of the whole production. Three-year old chimp Oscar loses mom; alpha male Freddy adopts him. That seems fine until the battles between rival groups for the nut field guarded by his mom's tribe appear narratively convenient and cunningly edited.But I must remember this production is sanctioned by Chimp champion Jane Goodall, so anything contrived is probably minimal. Yet that photography and chimp-intimate moments make it a delight.Chimpanzee is the only G rated film I have seen recently, and deservedly so. Although the fights and the deaths are undoubtedly accurate in the Tai Forest of the Ivory Coast, the cutaway shots that brook no blood give the film a surreal cast, as if the story were fashioned by a child who could not fathom violence. Moreover, it is known that females will eat untethered little-uns; such observations do not pass the relaxed lips of Tool Time's narrator, Tim Allen. Really, Jungle book is more terrifying.But I digress. The photography of the primates in their natural habitat is downright gorgeous, and the use of slow motion is more appropriate and restrained than any I have seen in years. One time-lapsed shot of rain drops falling on puffballs is not only exquisite but also so artful as to seem gratuitous, inserted for beauty's sake, not the story (although a figurative interpretation could be devised, but, hey, this is a documentary, not an art film).The scenes running with the credits show some of the apparatus, including high-strung cable with remote camera, and time is spent to verify the plot line of the bonding alpha and Oscar.So I'm back again to admiring the photography and grousing about the fabricated-seeming story. The narration is sometimes goofy and the music manipulative.Just take the kids and enjoy; they will not be as whiny as I.

There still are people on this earth who care enough to work hard, live in unforgiving climates to tell an amazing story of survival, friendship and love. The story, photography, location, narrating and the chimps were the real star's, especially our little hero Oscar. We attended the a.m. showing of "chimpanzee" in Kanata AMC. I will promote this movie with the hope parents will take their children to understand the beauty,friendship and caring of the chimpanzee world. We would have liked additional footage shown at the end of the movie on how the set-up and filming took place. I can only imagine how horrible it was when Oscar's mom Izza was attacked and succumbed to death from a leopard. Would love to have been there to see Freddy accept little Oscar.Thank you for all the hard work and beautiful story. I will be attending again before April 26th to help the Jane Goodall Foundation. Cheers, Cher