Without generalizing about all animal researchers, the people that participated in Project Nim were largely deplorable, self-serving academics looking to fill their own narcissistic needs through the study of a chimpanzee. Unfortunately, the loser is the subject, Nim Chimpsky, removed from his natural habitat, raised among humans only and then discarded once his loan (yes, they loan animals for specific periods of time) had expired. It's now no secret chimps are intelligent animals that can communicate using sign language, but is the reward of finding out worth the cost? What do we really find out anyway? The documentary itself is excellent though - bearing a heavy influence from Errol Morris' style of recreated dramatizations and interview style. An in-depth look into the life of a chimpanzee and the torturous influence of humans meddling. The writers of Rise of the Planet of the Apes pretty much mirrored this story.
