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Project Nim
Project Nim Image
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Metascore
83 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 33 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.1 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 10 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Summary: From the Academy Award winning team behind Man on Wire comes the story of Nim, a chimpanzee who in the 1970s became the focus of a landmark experiment which aimed to show that an ape could learn to communicate with language if raised and nurtured like a human child. What was learned about his true nature – and indeed our own – is comic, revealing and profoundly unsettling. (Roadside Attractions)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 33
  3. Negative: 0 out of 33
  1. New Orleans Times-Picayune
    Reviewed by: Mike Scott
    Sep 16, 2011
    100
    Extraordinarily engaging but surprisingly sobering.
  2. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Kyle Smith
    Jul 8, 2011
    100
    Deep, disturbing and funny.
  3. Time Out New York
    Reviewed by: Keith Uhlich
    Jul 5, 2011
    60
    The good news is that the film's stylistic excesses don't negate the many fascinating aspects of Nim's story.

See all 33 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 1 out of 3
  1. RONGIU
    10
    Sorry, Italian / English mechanic. 1973 November : A small chimpanzee born in captivity in Norman Oklahoma / suiprimati in a research center. A few days later, the puppy is removed from the mother, already accustomed to this oozing, after having abbattutacon a dart containing tranquilizer. The little chimp is then inserted in a "family man". To take care of him is a former student, wealthy, with a degree in psychology Stephanie LaFarge / and with a lot 'of their children by adding those of her new husband. Nim was the beginning of the project, perhaps the most radical experiment of its kind, which aims to demonstrate the possibility that a chimp has to communicate through sign language, if raised, nurtured and raised as a human child. The direction of the experiment is carried out by a psychology professor at Columbia University Herbert S. Terrace /. Once acquired sign language, or rather the greatest number of words and a bit 'rough grammar, one hopes to steal his thoughts, his moods. If successful, the consequences are nothing short of staggering, lack of communication between man and his nearest relative was struck and forever new frontiers of communication open and so forth. The question - What does it mean to be human? - Remains to be redefined. The new tenant has an immediate and positive approach affectively with her adoptive family, and certainly does not mind the residence on the Upper West Side of Manhattan where spaces wide and especially lots and lots of people to allow them to express themselves better. Learn quickly and in a short space of a few months began to communicate his needs. She loves playing with human brothers acquired, and often the furnishings of the house suffered significant material deformation. Clever, skillful, becomes more and more clever, even his body begins to harden. Nim is now too big for this family, sooobbh! / Is then transferred into a large house owned by Columbia University. But why is relieved of Jennie LaFarge? According to the prof. Terrace LaFarge has the whole family against Nim a more libertine "educational". Responsible for this are a number of students, the first of these Laura-Ann Petitto /, which according to the LaFarge seems to have been chosen especially for his physique. For each of them, Nim leaves indelible marks on the skin of his canines, especially when it senses a dangerous situation for him. At the age of five years, has gained "only" a vocabulary of more than 130 words and no grammar, too little to continue the experiment. 130 words are hardly enough to have your say in the various fields of knowledge - Sigh! The experiment is over. The new residence of Nim is in a primate research center in Oklahoma. In this place will have to learn to live with his fellows who had never seen before. Bum! Bum! Benedict homo sapiens sapiens. / A decision is a disaster! Having gained some 'of human culture allows Nim, in the reception center, to institute positive relationships with the security personnel, maintenance and so forth. With them, from time to time, drinking beer and does not mind the smoke. This structure has to deal with its budget, which red for some time, hopefully in a shower of green dollars. The rain did not arrive. Nim is so sold to a laboratory that is interested in scientific research applied to drugs located in upstate New York. Yuck! Nim does not know the drumbeat of human metaphor. The news of his current state is highlighted by the press and is a lawyer out of the norm as they do to give him the freedom he deserves. Nim is purchased from an animal rights activist and taken to a shelter in Texas. There he remained until his death from cardiac arrest in 2000. Nim has surely forgiven, but many humans who have had contact with him scientific cooperation, more or less long, probably still suffer from insomnia so obsessed by his face.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. metamotivcritic
    9
    Although a bit overly manipulative and melodramatic, this is nevertheless a fascinating and heart-wrenching story, particularly for those of us who knew only about the scientific debate over the nature and origins of language that was the initial impetus for the Nim study. The participants/characters are amazingly forthcoming; and the disconnect between the scientific background of the project and the human (and chimp) stories "behind the scenes" couldn't be more striking or more telling. It is a movie that is both intellectually stimulating and emotionally powerful. (Note: it is also rather disconcerting to see the major discrepancy between the reviews of male and female users on IMDB, although men come out as both heroes and villains in the movie!)… Expand
    • 0 of 2 users said yes
  3. MorriBey
    3
    Nah. I only feel compelled to write a review just to balance out the score. I didnt learn anything. There is a story but its certainly not gripping. Its a back page column stretched to a movie and it shows.… Expand
    • 1 of 1 users said yes

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