Delayed Reaction: Gorillas in the Mist

The Pitch: Sigourney Weaver as a woman who sometimes acts like gorillas.

How I Came Into It: Well, I thought this was about Jane Goodall, so I was only partially aware of what this was. By all accounts, Dian Fossey was a much stranger character than Fossey. Sigourney Weaver looked like smart casting. Having never looked up Fossey before, I wasn't sure how much of a story there was to this.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) Weaver is indeed very good playing Fossey. Anyone who can pull off acting like a monkey with dignity still in tact deserves some recognition. She really makes this all watchable, as this isn't a film, it's a performance piece.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: Weaver has a performance but not much of a character. From the little I've read up on Fossey since watching this, she's a far more interesting character than they let her be in the movie. I guess the fear was that if she was too unhinged then she wouldn't be a sympathetic lead. So, they removed most of the crazy, then forgot to replace it with much of anything else.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend