Film Review: GIGI & NATE (2022): Cute and Endearing New Monkey Film Falters a Bit in its Third Act

Gigi & Nate Review

Gigi & Nate (2022) Film Review, a movie directed by Nick Hamm, written by David Hudgins and starring Charlie Rowe, Marcia Gay Harden, Jim Belushi, Zoe Margaret Colletti, Josephine Langford, Diane Ladd, Tara Summers, Hannah Riley, Brent Sexton, Mishel Prada, Welker White, Olly Sholotan, Sasha Compere, Deja Dee, Maria Howell, Sarah Stouffer, Lindsay Ayliffe and Emilio Garcia-Sanchez.

Nick Hamm’s new family-friendly film, Gigi & Nate, has a lot going for it especially in the beginning stages of the movie. It’s the delicate story of a young man named Nate Gibson (Charlie Rowe) who has his whole life ahead of him and makes an unfortunate choice to take a deep plunge into some water which ultimately leads to him becoming a quadriplegic. He is befriended by a Capuchin monkey several years later and starts to improve his outlook on life. It’s a touching story and some good actors are attached to the project. Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden plays the young man’s mom, Jim Belushi plays his dad and Diane Ladd is in top form as Mama Blanche but the star of the show is certainly the monkey, Gigi who steals every scene she’s in.

As the film opens, we see Gigi being rescued and she will later be trained to become a service animal who will be there to help Nate in his emotional recovery. In the early stages of the film, Nate finds himself attracted to a new girl he meets named Lori (well played by Zoe Margaret Colletti) but eventually, the admiration he has for her gets pushed to the side because of his physical dilemmas which lead to him becoming wheel-chair bound. Nate even tries to end his life unsuccessfully and is struggling immensely with his new disabilities. He has a supportive family and his sister, Katy, in particular, is very caring and she is earnestly portrayed by Josephine Langford.

Jim Belushi, as Nate’s father Dan, surprisingly has some good moments in the movie but one can’t help but see the recent television performer as a comedic star which makes it hard at first to take him seriously in a dramatic film such as this one. Thankfully, Belushi plays the role straight and Dan comes across with sensitivity and conviction thanks to the actor’s fine work here.

Marcia Gay Harden has a difficult role in the picture and ultimately does a nice job as a mother who is confused as to what her son really needs and finds comfort in the fact that Gigi is now bonding with Nate. Of course, Gay Harden’s role is not one that gives her a lot of opportunity to shine being that it’s just a supporting part but the actress makes the most of every moment she’s in.

When the movie gets to a certain sequence, though, it starts to get a bit frustrating to watch. Lori re-enters Nate’s life after a several year absence when she meets him in a supermarket. Lori invites Nate and Gigi to a party. Katy must leave her job, however, to go get Nate and Gigi who really shouldn’t be attending the event. This party is pretty innocuous but footage of Gigi gets put on the internet which stirs up some political activists who believe that Nate is abusing the rights of his service animal, Gigi. The key leader of this group is Chloe (Welker White) and these scenes are uncomfortable to watch. People dress up in gorilla suits and harass Nate’s family trying to make them give up Gigi.

These aforementioned scenes lead to a big court scene where Nate needs to present evidence to the court surrounding the reasons his service animal is important to him. Nate must fight to try to secure Gigi in his life. Charlie Rowe does a good job in these scenes making the audience feel sympathy for the character of Nate. It’s hard not to feel for his whole family during these emotional scenes.

Gigi & Nate doesn’t always work. I really could have done without the overly dramatic scenes of the political activists making things much more complicated than they need to be. Also, the ending of the movie seems to suggest going to court wasn’t even a necessity. Surprisingly, Nate’s lawyer didn’t do the necessary homework as to the legality of certain aspects regarding this particular type of service animal.

Overall, this is still a noble movie due to the sincerity of its themes. There are a lot of cute scenes between the characters of Gigi and Nate and the bond between them can be rather moving at times. It’s also great to see Diane Ladd working again. Despite a somewhat awkward third act, this is not a bad movie at all. If you like movies about the healing power of family and adore cute monkeys, then this could be the film for you.

Rating: 6.5/10

Leave your thoughts on this Gigi & Nate review and the film below in the comments section. Readers seeking to support this type of content can visit our Patreon Page and become one of FilmBook’s patrons. Readers seeking more film reviews can visit our Movie Review Page, our Movie Review Twitter Page, and our Movie Review Facebook Page. Want up-to-the-minute notifications? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Flipboard.