Abe & Bruno

I mistakenly brought this home as a "family time" movie to watch with our three kids (ages between 6 and 10). It was simply terrible. It had weak character development, coupled with extremely poor acting. It was devoid of humor (not that this movie is a comedy, but it might have provided the audience with something to look forward to). The language was coarse, and although it was not the standard-issue "swear words", it was entirely inappropriate for kids who are easily influenced by such bad behaviors. The theme was hard to discern, besides the brutally simplistic stereotyping of "gorillas are savage people-killers", and the counterpoint of "gorillas are gentle giants with big hearts". The only thing hat reduced my pain in my poor movie choice was the fact that I rented it out of a kiosk machine for only a buck. Do yourself a big favor and skip this one.

I read the two comments available before watching this movie as it came on the TV, and was waiting on a vile curse ridden movie with no merit what so ever so when I watched it all the way through I had so laugh at how sensitive some people are the only curse in this movie is in the dictionary explained below, I wont type it here for fear of damaging someones sensibilities.

interj. Used to express anger, irritation, contempt, or disappointment.

My two year old nephew watched this film with me and he just loved Bruno the big friendly Gorill. And yes the acting is pretty bad but this is a kids movie and who really cares when its a simple story teaching kids that things are not always bad just because someone else say it is... it is on that note i finish

I read the other 3 reviews - yes the acting is bad, but that is only if you are holding it up to much better work. The main character (who seems to have 10th billing) is Abe, a supposedly OLD GRUMPY Guy who neither looks "old" nor realistically pulls off "grumpy", but remember that I am an adult seeing this through the adult eyes a an avid movie buff.

The film has its moments - though admittedly they are few. If I was a young child this film would probably be quite good. In fact my expectation is to watch this with my 3 year old grandson who I think will find it quite enjoyable once someone watches it with him and explains things as the film progresses. I have the feeling it will be a movie he will want to watch often.

Unfortunately, from the adult viewpoint the acting is restrained like in the opening scenes where Abe is running away from what we quickly find to be Bruno the ape but he isn't really running - he is just sort of giving the impression that he could be running. Again, an adult look vs. a child's eye view probably makes the world of difference.

There is also a lot of what seems like attempts at comedy for the sake of making the film palatable for any adult who might have to supervise the youngster watching the film, like when Abe corrects his leaving the toilet seat up to appease Bruno's sensibilities on this subject.

This is basically examples of what to expect from "all" of the acting in this film, not just the actor portraying Abe. As an adult you'll find that the actors are acting, waiting for each other's lines and the occasional opportunity to step on someone else's line.

I was actually a little amazed that the three kids in the film got top billing as the Abe character and a few of the other adult actors seem to be the main characters, but that is just another example of who this film is geared towards.

As a film that I would categorize as an "After School Special" candidate for mid-western (I would have to drop it a few points for either coast) pre-teen family viewing I rate this at the higher end of the spectrum. If I was rating it for my own viewing pleasure I would unfortunately have to give it a flat out zero.

Our 5 year old received this movie by chance and watched it 4 times the first evening. I'm sure it will remain in her movie rotation for years to come. Acting is on a child's level. Characters are believable through a child's eyes. The story flows through pulling memories out of a keepsake and fills in questions as to how this came to be, again making this story believable. Although fear of the unknown is a central theme, children following the storyline see early on that it is unfounded. Adults admitting mistakes in first impressions, then correcting themselves. It's alright to be wrong as long as you own up to it when you discover the truth. Both sides of the story learned valuable lessons about trust. All good life lessons.