| Born to Be Wild | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | John Gray |
| Screenplay by | John Bunzel Paul Young |
| Story by | Paul Young |
| Produced by | Robert Newmyer Jeffrey Silver |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Donald M. Morgan |
| Edited by | Maryann Brandon |
| Music by | Mark Snow |
Production companies | Fuji Entertainment Outlaw Productions |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 100 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $3,730,409[1] |
Born to Be Wild is a 1995 American family comedy film released by Warner Bros. under their Warner Bros. Family Entertainment label.
Plot
14-year-old Rick Heller is a juvenile delinquent who continues to get himself into trouble. To keep him out of mischief, his mother, Margaret, puts him to work cleaning the cage of a female western lowland gorilla named Katie. Margaret is teaching Katie to communicate through the use of sign language. When the owner of the gorilla, Gus Charnley, takes her away to become a flea market freak, Rick realizes he loves Katie and goes to rescue her to take her on an adventurous journey that gets her out of the country. In the end Rick found a home for Katie in the mountains and they say goodbye to each other and Katie makes a family of her own.
Cast
- Wil Horneff as Rick Heller
- Helen Shaver as Margaret Heller
- John C. McGinley as Max Carr
- Peter Boyle as Gus Charnley
- Jean Marie Barnwell as Lacey Carr
- Marvin J. McIntyre as Bob
- Gregory Itzin as Walter Mallinson
- Titus Welliver as Sergeant Markle
- Thomas F. Wilson as Det. Lou Greenberg (as Tom Wilson)
- Alan Ruck as Dan Woodley
- John Procaccino as Ed Price
- Obba Babatundé as Interpreter
- David Wingert as Gary James
- John Pleshette as Donald Carr
- Janet Carroll as Judge Billings
- Talia Paul as Gorilla Team
Reception
Peter Stack of the San Francisco Chronicle said the animatronic gorilla looked phony, but concluded "The film has its moments of nutty fun" and "it also has a couple of touching scenes—if you can get beyond that bogus ape look."[2] The Washington Post critic Rita Kempley called it "a heart-yanking family yarn that resembles a simian adaptation of Nell" and also compared the movie to Free Willy.[3]
Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 0% based on 9 reviews, and an average rating of 3.4/10.[4]
References
- ↑ Born to Be Wild at Box Office Mojo
- ↑ Peter Stack (1995-04-03). "Robot Gorilla Doesn't Cut It in 'Born'". sfgate.com. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
- ↑ Rita Kempley (1995-04-03). "'Born to Be Wild'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
- ↑ "Born to Be Wild". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved October 17, 2022.