Review of Project Nim (2011) by Jamie N — 10 Aug 2011

The story is maddening, tragic and compulsive enough in its own right not to need additional whistles and bells, and Marsh duly strikes a skilful balance between the personalities involved, the narrative and his own technique; the handling becomes particularly effective over the closing stretch, as the key players speak - movingly, in most cases; somewhat evasively, in the case of Herb Terrace, who launched a whole academic career off the back of the Nim data - about the their part in what happened to their pupil, their charge, their boy.

There's little of the mystery or awe one found in Marsh's previous "Wisconsin Death Trip" or "Man on Wire" - it's the kind of anecdote even Karl Pilkington could get his round head around - and I'm not so sure what we're supposed to take away, other than the sense of having borne witness to a good story well told.

Don't hand your chimp to 1970s scientists? Are we as humans less evolved than we think? (These would seem respectively moot and obvious avenues for Marsh to be exploring.) Well told it is, though - and it may be the only film you'll see all year to feature (frankly priceless) footage of a chimp attempting to hump a cat.