97% Project Nim

All Critics (86) | Top Critics (25) | Fresh (83) | Rotten (3)

Marsh ... masterfully spins a harrowing tale of human arrogance that eventually gives way to cruelty bordering on the pathological.

Nim is as unforgettable as the treatment of him is unspeakable.

Like the experiment itself, "Project Nim" morphs from something inspiring and often humorous to a pointed and disturbing portrait of arrogance run amok. Greed and glory end up overriding decency and altruism, and it's heartbreaking to watch.

What makes this film especially engrossing is that what happened between that chimp and the humans with whom he spent his life in intimate contact turns out to be only half the story that Marsh, who directed the electrifying "Man on Wire," has to tell.

Marsh tells this story clearly and sympathetically, and he has the backlog of film and the witnesses to do so.

At times hilarious but ultimately heartbreaking, "Project Nim" is a great chronicle of the 1970s and all the nutty ideas that implies; academia in particular comes in for a hard reckoning.

Intriguing yet ineffably sad, what emerges is not the story of an ape who failed to be human, but a story of human failings.

Nim's journey is profoundly moving...

You're left with the impression that, despite not being able to grasp basic human grammar, perhaps Nim was unwittingly conditioned into understanding the concept of love.

Gives us jolt of clarity into our 'playing God' actions, one filled initially with both hope then despair that ultimately makes you ashamed to be human.

Gripping, heart-wrenching, powerful and a sad indictment of scientific practice, which shows that 'human' and 'humane' are all-too-often mutually exclusive.

We are uncomfortably reminded throughout the film that all living creatures have worth. Including man-made hybrids. Correction: especially man-made hybrids.

Project Nim introduces quite an extraordinary tale of woe from a puzzling subject, but its aim is slightly off, diluting the final summation of a wholly troubling existence.

What appears to be a slyly amusing film about an experiment that sounds mostly just goofy turns into a reasonably serious indictment of those conducting the experiment.

Director James Marsh (an Oscar winner for Man on Wire) charts the heartbreaking and often incredible events without ever veering towards mawkish sentimentality.

Marsh's sensitive doc is a light look at some dark clues to the kind of creatures we really are.

This non-fiction animal biography deserves recognition for a brilliant editing job in condensing the running time to 93 minutes.

Project Nim provides the much needed backstory to modern scientific achievement unavoidably earned on the backs of innocent apes.

It's the scab of decades-old tension between those involved in the experiment and its aftermath that Marsh wants to pick at; and it doesn't take much prodding before the conflicts and petty human jealousies rise to the top.

The result is as scarring and engrossing as it is fascinating, infuriating and profound.

It's an astonishing story, and one of the year's best documentaries.

As Nim's story turns from scientifically compelling to tragic, Marsh is able to craft a drama that appeals even to those who aren't exactly card-carrying members of PETA.

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/project_nim/

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