PROJECT X
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1987 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: Very (very) familiar story about an Air
Force experiment using chimpanzees and a young soldier who
becomes attached to them. This film is more enjoyable than
one would expect it to be. Nothing great, but well worth
seeing.
The last time I watched John Badham's film WARGAMES (at least I hope it was the last time!), I counted what I thought were technical errors in the film. I came up with an average of one every 120 seconds. When I read that the scripters of WARGAMES had produced a new film, PROJECT X, my excitement knew very strict bounds. In fact, I was not excited at all. When I heard that in this film Matthew Broderick was causing trouble at an Air Force base on which experimentation was being done on intelligent chimpanzees, I said to myself, "I even know that story. I have seen it done as a play on PBS and read it at least twice." It had to be almost the same story as Paul Zindel's "Let Me Hear You Whisper." That play dealt with a cleaning-woman at a soul-less research institute. Scientists are trying to teach a dolphin to speak, but it will talk only to the cleaning-woman and then only when nobody else is around. Our cleaning-woman is incensed at the lack of co- operation on the dolphin's part until she learns what defense uses the scientists will make of the dolphin if it does learn to talk. After that, her goal is to help the dolphin escape.
So I avoided seeing PROJECT X until it came down to $1.25. Then I decided it was worth that just to see a remake of the Zindel play. My reaction: if Paul Zindel were Harlan Ellison, he would now be the major stockholder of Twentieth Century Fox. PROJECT X was not the close remake I was expecting, but the two stories are awfully parallel. But in spite of that, I have to admit I really did like PROJECT X and consider it a far better and far more believable film that WARGAMES.
The film follows one chimp, Virgil, from being trapped in the wild through being taught sign language by Teri (played by Helen Hunt) until Teri's grant is canceled, to being taken to an Air Force base for experimentation purposes. There, a ne'er-do-well Air Force brat, Jimmy (played by Broderick) is given the job of caring for the chimpanzee subjects and discovers that Virgil can talk sign language. Then the relationship between the two grows and the story follows predictable routes.
PROJECT X could have gone wrong in a dozen different ways, but it doesn't. The chimps are not entirely believable--a little too human--but are likable without being cutesey. The film manages to give them distinct personalities, no small feat. While the science of WARGAMES seemed ridiculous, PROJECT X is considerably more credible. the experiment being performed might not have been performed in exactly the way it is portrayed, but I suspect that similar experiments actually have been done, and perhaps as early as the 50s. What is hardest to believe about the experiment is that the Air Force would not already have all the data they need along the lines of the results of PROJECT X.
Director Jonathan Kaplan will be familiar to people who saw the documentary "Roger Corman: Hollywood's Wild Angel." In a humorous interview, Kaplan tells how Corman gave him his first feature film to direct (NIGHT CALL NURSES) and his second (THE STUDENT TEACHERS). Kaplan slowly worked his way up with WHITE LINE FEVER. His most recent films, such as OVER THE EDGE and HEART LIKE A WHEEL, have gained much better acceptance. He was chosen to direct her because of his ability to "do spectacular action sequences on a low budget," according to producer Walter Parkes.
Though insufficiently original in plot, PROJECT X tells a fairly good story well, gets a good acting jobs out of a bunch of apes, and is surprisingly affecting. Rate it a +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
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