i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Dian Fossey (Sigourney Weaver) brow beats Dr. Louis Leakey into letting go into the jungle to research mountain gorillas. She's joined by a local guide Sembagare and a National Geographic photographer Bob Campbell (Bryan Brown).It's a well biopic from director Michael Apted of an amazing woman and an amazing life. The performances are first class. Sigourney Weaver is able to project a certain self confidence in the character.The other thing I want to mention is the realism of the gorilla suits. It is hard to tell the difference between the real thing and the suits. It's of the utmost importance because we wouldn't want to be hampered by 'Planet of Apes' retreads.

With all due respect to the late Dian Fossey and to the legacy of her groundbreaking work among the mountain gorillas of central Africa, it should be noted that her big screen biography is little more than a glossy star package with postcard scenery and sentiments, presenting the anthropologist as just another white woman who goes into the jungle to 'find herself'. Sigourney Weaver gives the role plenty of energy (mostly by over-acting shamelessly), but the film suffers from too many tactical errors, beginning with a childishly simple script that reduces complex issues into one-dimensional conflicts between corrupt humankind and the unspoiled splendor of animal life in the wild. Critical moments are further undermined by gratuitous voice-over letters home and by Maurice Jarre's overwrought (and therefore not entirely inappropriate) music score. Even the expected romantic interest between Fossey and a handsome National geographic photographer is given the regulation Hollywood screen treatment, proving yet again that sincere intentions are never enough to salvage a trite and superficial film.

It is a shame how a movie treatment can be made of a world-renowned character, like Ms Fossey, that bears very little relationship to the person she was, as portrayed both by her own book and the books written about her.Her character remains unknown in this movie. And I've watched it for a second time now, to see if the first frustration with which I viewed it, when it was first released, had left me. No, it hadn't. It starts off poorly, with a fictionalized account of how Fossey met Louis Leakey, the famed anthropologist and how she begs him for a job. Simply not true. Fossey had already been to Africa at the time she met Leakey and he was the one who asked her to go there and work with the endangered gorillas, then numbering well under a 100. I don't even see the benefit of making this autobiographical change to the story. Fossey's motivation for going on this hazardous mission, leaving a fiancé in the U.S. is never explored. Was she is in love, as some speculate, with Leakey? Her love and interest in the gorillas is never in doubt and in real-life her obsession consumed her such that her eccentricity became sociopathic to the degree that her distrust of humans encompassed anyone who crossed her path from her students to the government of Rwanda.Her relationship with the National Geographic photographer is unfortunately Hollywoodized here and does not reach the intellectual level of harmony that they had in real life, they knew from the beginning , because of their individual interests and pursuits, that it was doomed to short-term, but celebrated the "in the moment" aspect of it. This could have been portrayed on screen a lot better.The shift to sociopathic personality, about halfway through the movie is too sudden to ring true and the ending feels rushed and "let's get it over with already". Her murder was appalling and undeserved but she had made many enemies, not the least of whom were her students from whom she demanded servility and unquestioning obedience.Sadly, I think she was ill-served in this bio-pic, perhaps a deeper psychological exploration of her character will be made at some point.However, the gorilla filming was breathtaking.6 out of 10.

this movie is based on the life of Dian Fossey and her work with the gorillas in a remote part of Africa."based on" usually means that some of the content is true and parts of it are fictionalized for dramatic effect.for sure Dian Fossey did work with gorillas in Africa and was instrumental in the increase of their population.some of the details may have been altered,but the gist of the story is true.i thought it was a very entertaining,touching and heartbreaking story.i think Sigourney weaver did a great job as Dian Fossey.she really brought some passion to the character.the movie was also thought provoking and i actually became angry more than a few times about some of the incidents that occurred.i find it rare to become so actively involved with a movie nowadays.for me "Gorillas in the Mist" is at a strong 8/10