Reynolds turned down MASH to do this - I get it wasn't the lead (the Tom Skerritt part) and Altman wasn't Altman then but still... Burt!
Maybe he was swayed by dreams of Planet of the Apes which surely must have been on the minds of the makers - a smart adventure tale about the human condition. It's about a trip into New Guinea to find the missing link - they succeed and there's some philosophical questions.
There are some good ideas - it's not a stock jungle film- but it's fatally compromised in several ways: filming in Jamaica instead of New Guinea (I get that it was logistically tricky... they just should have relocated it, because it loses too much reality), lack of a cohesive vision (director Richard Wilson was fired early into the shoot), crap make up for the apes, a confusing storyline, punches being pulled when it comes to humans falling for the apes (there is human ape sex!) and a deux ex machina with Reynolds on trial being saved by a convenient death.
Aussies will get a kick out of a cricket match being played by New Guinean/Jamaican locals and Chips Rafferty as a missionary.
Reynolds has solid chemistry with Susan Clark, who is very good as one of the expedition.
Apparently Lorenzo Semple worked on the script (according to a Reynolds interview) but he isn't credited.
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