MVP:
MOST VALUABLE PRIMATE
Year: 2000
USA: Keystone Entertainment
Cast: Jamie Renee Smith, Kevin Zegers, Lomax Study, Russell Ferrier, Oliver Muirhead, Rick Ducommun, Kirby Morrow, Ray Galletti, Mark McConchie, Trevor Roberts, Aaron Smolinski, Shane Vajda
Director: Robert Vince
Countries: USA / Canada
USA: 93 mins
USA Rated: PG for some mild language
USA Release Date: 20 October 2000 (Limited Release)
Synopsis
Jack is a precocious chimp who has been in a university study environment for the last three years. His kindly caretaker, Dr. Kendall (Lomax Study), has devoted much time and energy to achieve his dream of teaching Jack, a genius with a propensity for goofing around, to communicate fully with humans. But with his retirement just around the corner, his grant money depleted and his research with Jack considered a failure by the university, Dr. Kendall has made arrangements for Jack to be sent back to the El Simian Nature Preserve, where his family resides. Dr Kendall's colleagues, however, have a different plan for Jack. Unbeknownst to him, they've sold Jack to a research facility where he'll be an unwilling participant in medical experiments.
However Darren (Russell Ferrier), the friendly janitor at the university and Jack's best friend has a plan of his own. On the day that Jack is scheduled for transfer to the research facility, Darren sneaks him out of the building and onto a train bound for the Nature Preserve. Unfortunately, Jack misses his stop and finds himself in the small Canadian town of Nelson, British Columbia.
Lost in a snowy, cold and foreign land, Jack makes his way to a treehouse in the woods, where he is discovered by a young deaf girl named Tara (Jamie Renee Smith) and her brother, Steven (Kevin Zegers). They, too, are newcomers to Nelson and instantly befriend Jack. Steven, a skilled hockey player, dreams of someday being drafted by the NHL. He realizes that the chances of this happening are slim while he's playing for the Nuggets, Nelson's lousy Junior B team.
Tara though teaches Jack to ice skate with such success that he becomes the newest member of the Nuggets and with Jack's help make it to the Junior B championships in Vancouver, BC. Unfortunately the Nuggets are playing their championship game when the cold-hearted Dean from the research facility shows up with a court order to claim Jack. Will he get Jack back or will Jack be reunited with his family?
