'Project Nim' -- 3 1/2 stars

PG-13; 1:33 running time

In 1973, Columbia University behavioral psychology professor Herb Terrace launched a study in which a chimpanzee born in a Oklahoma primate research lab became an honorary human raised in most unusual circumstances. Terrace set out to determine if the chimp, taken from his birth mother before he knew what hit him, could be surrounded by surrogate family members and observers, overseen from a distance by Prof. Terrace, and taught to communicate via sign language. By age 5 Nim developed a vocabulary of 120 words, his favorites including "play," "hug," "eat" and "Herb." -- Michael Phillips

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