The ’70s were a hell of a drug. Also the actual drugs in the ’70s were a hell of a drug. (They gave those to Nim too.)

Imagine how you would react if your spouse showed up one day with a chimp and said “We are part of an experiment. As part of the experiment, this is now our child. Also, we’re going to teach it sign language.” I do not think I would be chill with that!

That is one part of this story, and kind of a funny one. Then the film turns pitifully sad, and the funny scenes are no longer funny in hindsight. “Project Nim” came to one conclusion; Project Nim argues pretty persuasively for another — not necessarily about whether Nim could “talk” but about whether that really matters. Just because chimps (or other animals) can’t speak doesn’t mean they don’t think or feel. And to ignore the mountain of evidence to the latter purely because you’re interested in the former does not strike me as a very productive experiment.