What makes it different from others?

Good concept, poorly executed.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

it seems be the film for animals lovers. and only for theme. because , against the premise than it reflects real facts, the story is far to be interesting or plausible, the end too sweet and Rene Russo in a role for she has a huge effort to do coherent. sure, the eccentric rich people stories are a good subject but it is not comfortable to answer yourself why the director has need by Rene Russo, Robbie Coltrane or Alan Cumming for his film. a noble message like this could be better with not great actors. the only good point - the performance of Irma P. Hall. short, a film with very precise target. only a fan of animals can ignore the errors of logic and the too obvious message and could discover the purpose of film, out of a sentimental story about incompatibility between different species.

Does anyone remember the name of a movie made around this same time which starred the sign language gorilla and young teenage boy who kidnaps him from the lab his mother is working at and the adventure ensues? Thank you for your help!!!! I would like to try and find this movie on DVD if it exists. It was kind-of a cute comedy-family movie as I remember and the teenage boy drives him I think to Canada after dressing him up in a trench coat and hat and stealing him in a van and then taking him to a min-mart type place for food. Does this sound familiar to anyone? I could really use your help as the name escapes me now. I do remember renting it on VHS though around 1994-1997. Somewhere around that time frame. I think it was better than Buddy as a movie.

My Take: More proof that decent special effects and pretty sets can't tell the story. BUDDY is the film that BABE could have easily been, but while that harmless, little achievement took to a different direction (and succeeded as a great, little film), BUDDY takes off on the wrong track. The story elements are easily predictable, but that's rarely the worst part since the film, despite some imagination and style which went into the production design, the story drags on. It's dully paced and slow-moving, it's pretty hard to care for a somewhat interesting character (a domesticated ape, no less).Rene Russo plays, and is actually fine as, eccentric wealthy animal lover Gertrude Lintz, who adopts all sorts of animals, chimpanzees mostly, and grooms them into civilized beings, dressing them up and teaches them to walk upright and eat on a table (with a spoon and fork, no less). Alongside her and her menagerie of trained (and well-dressed) apes is her husband (Robbie Coltrane), a helpful maid (Irma P. Hall) and her assistant (Alan Cumming). But when she decides to adopt a harmless orphaned gorilla, her confidence is slowly loosing as Buddy, as groomed and as attentive an animal he is, he's still an animal.Russo and co., thankfully given some decent roles, are actually good, and the ape (cheesy as ape suits are today) is pretty endearing. But unlike BABE, the focus pitched on the animals are pretty tedious. This time, I think, giving the animals the gift of speech is a welcome asset. Director Caroline Thompson seemed to be distracted by the overall look of the film (the production design, from costumes to sets, are spontaneously elaborate) to strongly develop the script. The story lags a long in a drowsy, monotonous pace that could even put a few children to sleep.What could have been an eagerly acceptable fantasy with touches of engaging tragedy is an elaborate and fancy bore. BUDDY isn't a failure, but it fails more than it succeeds. At best, it's a promise that never really got off the ground.Rating: **1/2 out of 5.

I enjoyed the innocence of this film and how the characters had to deal with the reality of having a powerful animal in their midst. The gorilla looks just terrific, and the eyes were especially lifelike. It's even a little scary at times and should have children slightly frightened without going over the top. Rene Russo plays her role wonderfully feminine. Usually these type of Hollywood films that take place in the past feel the need to create a straw-man villain but the only adversary is the gorilla. It's an interesting look at how close some animals are to humans, how they feel the same emotions we do, and yet how we really can't treat them just like people because they aren't. Not many films venture into this territory and it's worth seeing if you want to contemplate the human-animal similarity.