Wild Life This Tale About The Adventures Of A Boy And His Gorilla Is Sure To Bring A Tear To Your Eye

At least “Born to be Wild” tries to be a step up from your run-of-the-mill “boy meets gorilla” flick. It’s heavy on animal rights and gets real upset with people who would abuse our furry friends.

Unfortunately, it’s also so determined to pull at our heartstrings it nearly yanks them out by the roots.

The boy in this tale is Rick, a troubled 14-yearold who’s into stealing cars. (His father walked out on him and his mother, and he hasn’t been the same since.) Rick’s mother is a behavioral scientist who’s busy teaching sign language to Katie, a gorilla.

Rick and Katie meet when he’s ordered to keep her cage clean. It may not be love at first sight, but something clicks.

When the evil Gus Charnley takes Katie to exhibit at a flea market, Rick steals the gorilla and heads for Canada where he thinks they will be safe. Along the way there’s more bonding than in a Robert Redford/Paul Newman movie.

Some of this is fun in a slapstick way and lessons are learned: Never let a gorilla shake up a soda can before it opens it; never leave a gorilla alone in a car; you won’t get much sleep if you share a van with a gorilla.

Still Katie is lovable and Rick is determined and they make a fine couple.

Lukewarm on their heels are the police and, eventually, things are resolved when Katie gives dramatic court testimony about who she wants to be with. (Remember the sign language? She really understands.)

Wil Horneff is fine as Rick. He handles emotion well and isn’t afraid to get teary-eyed over someone in an elaborate gorilla costume. Helen Shaver is remarkably low-key for someone whose son has just made off with a gorilla and Peter Boyle is properly nasty as the the villain who wants to put Katie on exhibit. The best performance, by far, is given by Katie - that mix of mask and puppetry that stands in for a real gorilla.

“Born to be Wild” even gets off to a promising start with the kidnapping of a baby gorilla during the opening credits and a fast-paced car chase. There is some fun during the cross-country chase, but all too often the music swells in the background while boy and gorilla learn to love each other.

And, eventually, formula wins out as the movie heads for what it hopes will be at least a three-hanky ending.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: “Born to be Wild” Location: Lincoln Heights, North Division, Showboat cinemas Director: John Gray Cast: Wil Horneff, Helen Shaver, Peter Boyle Running time: 99 minutes Rating: PG