"Buddy," tells the true story of a crazy woman, who could communicate with animals. Trudy Lindz (Rene Russo,) raises animals in her home in the 1930s. She's considered an eccentric weirdo, and Russo pulls that off well in this movie. How much of it is based on the true story, I don't know, but the film is awkward and boring, attempting to establish that this woman did something good for animals by keeping them in her house. It revolves around a sickly baby Gorilla, and she attempts to raise him until disaster strikes. What would you expect from an aging Gorilla living in your house?
What struck me is that the poster ads for the movie show Rene Russo cupping her hands and surrounded by all sorts of animals that live in her house, including the Gorilla, Buddy. To a parent, this might seem like a family-friendly movie but it's far from that and I don't think the producers knew exactly what they were doing with this movie. Telling the story of a woman who raised animals in her home proves not an easy story to tell when the story is just that and nothing else.
She lives in a sprawling mansion with Geese, Dogs, Cats, a mouthy Parrot, Horses and two Chimpanzees she raises as her kids. None of it is convincing. They throw meat cleavers back and forth at each other, in the kitchen, with the cook (Irma P. Hall,) in the middle. Trudy attempts to spook them with a voodoo rattle to get them to behave, and it's not convincing, instead, it's uncomfortable when it's made to look like she can control these animals to fit her strange agenda.
Early in the movie, she takes them to the movies, and the patrons around her are agitated when they start squealing. The usher sees the monkeys, and she acts as if nothing is wrong. Only an eccentric millionaire with a chip on her shoulder would do this because she has money and feels steps above everyone else. Her husband, Dr. Bill Lintz (Robbie Coltrane,) lives with her, and it's hard to tell whether he likes the idea or if he is going along with her ideas because she is wack.
She gets a call to go to Philadelphia where a baby gorilla named "Buddy," is very sick. After condemning whoever the hell the weirdo she talks to is, because he knows nothing about Gorillas and should be ashamed of himself, her self-absorbed and rich attitude just whiskes the basket away from him and she storms off with it but to his surprise. Bill, tries to help the animal. He takes out his stethoscope and examines Buddy. Bill gravely tells her double pneumonia. He gets better, and she insists on raising him as her son, much to the chagrin of the other two monkeys.
