Buddy ★★½ 1997 (PG)

Animals run amok in the Lintz household. Mother hen Gertrude Lintz (Russo) raises just about everything from mischievous chimps to impressionable parrots on her estate. A baby gorilla (named Buddy, short for Buhis dha) becomes part of the family, but as he grows in size, so does the difficulty in carwasing for him. Amiable tale of one woman's motherly bond with a gorilla includes convincing performances by Russo and an animatronic gorilla courtesy of Jim Henston) son's Creature Shop. Well-paced and very touching at moments, children will definitely enjoy the zany animal antics, and adults should be moved by the unusual relationship. Based on the book by Lintz. 84m/C VHS, DVD . Rene Russo, Robbie Coltrane, Irma P. Hall, Alan Cumming, Paul (Peewee Herman) Reubens; D: Caroline Thompson; W: Caroline Thompson; C: Steve Mason; M: Elmer Bernstein.

bud·dy / ˈbədē/ inf. • n. (pl. -dies) a close friend. ∎  a working companion with whom close cooperation is required.• v. (-dies, -died) [intr.] become friendly and spend time with: I decided to buddy up to them.