Born to Be Wild Reviews

Boy meets gorilla, FREE WILLY-style, in this predictable children's film which features commendable performances from its human leads. BORN TO BE WILD grossed a paltry $3.7 million in its theatrical release, but its video release became one of the surprise rental hits of the summer. Behavioral researcher Margaret Heller (Helen Shaver) disciplines her rebellious son Rick (Wil Horneff) by putting him to work at her lab, cleaning animal cages. Rick's surly attitude changes after he makes friends with Katie, a 3-year-old gorilla who has been taught to communicate using sign language. Their bond is threatened when Katie's real owner, flea market proprietor Gus Charnley (Peter Boyle) cancels the lab's lease and reclaims Katie as a sideshow attraction. Rick cannot bear to see Katie caged, chained and miserable, so he rescues her from the flea market. They hit the road in a stolen van, headed for Canada, where Rick believes Katie will be free from extradition. When the law catches up with them, just short of the Canadian border, Rick is arrested. During Rick's trial, his attorney puts Katie on the witness stand. Through sign language, Katie describes Charnley's abuse and Rick's friendship. Rick is sentenced to community service for his actions, but he is awarded custody of Katie. BORN TO BE WILD has two things going for it--Wil Horneff and Helen Shaver. They are so likable, they make the viewer really want to believe that they're making all this fuss over a real gorilla instead of a guy in a monkey suit. But Katie is one of the least convincing animatronic creations ever seen on film, a fact which makes it very difficult to suspend disbelief long enough to get any enjoyment out of this film. Katie's slapstick antics will keep tiny tots distracted, but older children and adults will quickly tire of the monkey business being foisted on them by the filmmakers. Several scenes depict roughhousing between Rick and Katie, with the gorilla wrestling with or jumping on Rick, actions which would surely cause severe bodily injury to the boy in real life. The film tries to take itself seriously, and the courtroom climax comes close to eliciting real emotion, but juxtaposed with snippets of sincerity are too-goony-to-be-true supporting characters, and logic-defying plot developments. (Violence.)