Gigi & Nate

So, it's cloudy and raining here in Southwest Michigan this Sunday of Labor Day weekend and we decided to go to the movies. Checked out Rotten Tomatoes. "Honk For Jesus" received 74% positive critic reviews but 25% positive audience reviews. "Gigi & Nate" got only 18% positive critics but 97% positive audience reviews !! Imdb audiences had Honk at 5.1 average rating and Gigi at 8.1 positive !!

We opted to go and see "Gigi & Nate" and concluded that we are sick and tired of critics continually trying to influence what the public goes to see at the movies. There is no reason for any critic to give this film a negative review.

It is a moving, sincere, and spirited story that Director Hamm has made with genuine feeling. As a matter of fact, he and the editors and cinematographers use the camera to make the scenes flow and ebb in a manner that only enhances the emotions and feelings of the story, particularly in the first half of the film which moves along with quick and building intensity. The excellent musical score enhances the range of emotions that you will feel as a result of what you are seeing on the screen.

All of the actors are believable and realistic. Marcia Gay Harden is wonderful and authentic, and Charlie Rowe is exceptional as her son, Nate, whose life is shattered as a result of an unfortunate swimming experience. His performance is quite remarkable, natural, and moving without being maudlin. Jim Belusi gives the finest performance we have ever seen him give as Nate's father, and everyone else in the cast, particularly Langford and Riley, as Nate's sisters, and Colletti, as his young female friend, are very good.

In its negative review of this film, one critic called Diane Ladd's role "thankless." What an insult to Ms. Ladd and to this film. Now in her mid-eighties, Ms. Ladd is still very good indeed, and her role here as Nate's grandmother is sharp and endearing.

Many critics have panned the script, but there is nothing unrealistic or predictable here. Maybe this just isn't WOKE enough for them, but, hey, this is real life and a real story.

And what can you say about the acting monkey ? Good girl - nice job.

All in all, this is a moving and entertaining film that Hamm has done with sincere, careful, and excellent flair. Beautifully acted, beautifully filmed and scored, and nicely written. A rewarding movie experience.

The reason I watched this movie is due to the cute, lovely and awesome Gigi :-) I saw the trailer and though the Capuchin was adorable. But little did I know was a hidden message and story behind this.

If you love animals and love wonderful stories, then watch this.

You won't regret seeing this movie.

Everyone were playing their parts really well, but I feel the main star in this movie were the Capuchin. So adorable.

The message we get from this movie is HOPE, to not let go. Even if you are in the middle of a bloody storm, and you think you will never see the sunlight, YOU WILL SEE THE SUNLIGHT!

The story of a mothers love for her children, for the endless sacrifices parents do for their kids. Sacrifices not only parents do for their kids, but also the entire family do for each other. It was truly a wonderful movie.

You will laugh, cry, get motivated and become angry seeing this movie. You will experience all the emotions.

100% you should see this movie.

I loved the movie. From music to characters to film locations. But that isnt what made me watch the whole movie, as nice as those things are. It was the connection between Gigi and Nate. I love all animals. I always fight for their rights. Speak for them when they dont have a voice to speak for themselves. Yet this movie in no way at all showed abuse nor implied mistreatment of animals.

What it did show was a powerful connection between human beings and animals. In my opinion more times then not we get so much more interacting and having that bond with animals. I've seen countless wild birds have this bond with human beings. Birds that could fly away yet choose time and again to come back day after day to a human. Why can it not be something beautiful to bond and grow and evolve our connections with animals?

Hope is such a powerful thing. So is growth. You wont find one without the other. Animals do chose us all the time. They seek out the needy to form that connection, that bond. To help not harm. This movie was amazing and beautiful. I highly recommend it. Huge back pats to everyone involved. They said it was a box office flop. I felt it was worth 10 stars and more.

Gigi & Nate is an uplifting movie with an encouraging message. This movie will put you through a range of emotions, and may even bring on the "waterworks."

After barely surviving a tragic accident that left him paralyzed, Nate Gibson (Charlie Rowe) has nothing worth living for, until he meets Gigi, a capuchin monkey. The two develop an inseparable bond, but not everyone's a fan of the relationship. Can Gigi and Nate stay together?

This movie is inspired by the organization Helping Hands: Monkey Helpers for the Disabled which helps to match people with disabilities to monkeys who will help them in their day to day life. The special effects are so impressive as I could barely tell when it switched from CGI to real life. Allie (who plays Gigi), the adorable capuchin monkey, makes her acting debut in this movie, and she is trained incredibly well. Too bad for Allie that there aren't Oscars for animals, because she would win one! Kudos to Allie's trainers for making her actions seem so organic and natural! The chemistry with Charlie Rowe (Nate) and Allie feels so real that sometimes I forget I'm watching a fictional movie and not a documentary.

The primary message of Gigi & Nate is to never give up - whether that means on yourself or on something you believe in. This movie has some profanity, alcohol consumption and attempted suicide.

I give Gigi & Nate 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 12 to 18. Gigi and Nate comes out in theaters September 2, 2022. By Katherine S., KIDS FIRST!

Some say this movie is based on a real young man and his helper monkey. I prefer the term "inspired by" because so much of the story is changed for this movie. The one constant is that the young man was accidentally paralyzed and an organization that trains service animals provided a capuchin helper monkey. In this movie she is named Gigi. But names, family dynamics, locations, and method of paralysis are all fictional, as are most of the interactions portrayed.

But none of that matters in appreciating the movie. It deals authentically with a real subject and the difficulties of a partially incapicated person. Including military veterans, some featured in the movie, who were wounded, many with missing limbs.

Also the last parts of the movie, depicting the protests and the hearings to see if legislation will be advanced to prohibit use of monkeys as service animals. Today the organization, Helping Hands, no longer trains capuchin monkeys mainly due to pressure from animal rights groups, as well as concerns over health and safety. These factors resulted in federal and state governments changing the laws to make it difficult or impossible to have a monkey as a service animal. In 2010, a revision to the Americans with Disabilities Act stripped capuchin monkeys of their status as service animals.

My wife and I enjoyed this movie at home on BluRay from our public library.