Is this movie okay for my kids?

I don’t have a lot of childhood memories. Well, I do, but they take some coaxing to bring to the surface. It’s a good thing I’m still close with most of my elementary school friends (and that I married my high school crush) or I wouldn’t remember anything at all.

But one memory I do have is watching “Gorillas in the Mist” in school. For whatever reason, it really stuck with me. Probably because it had a strong female lead, and I was always drawn to those movies that made me really buy in to the whole “you can do anything you put your mind to” thing.

At any rate, I was reminded today that Jane Goodall is soon to be right here in Des Moines as part of the SmartTalk Series. Although “Gorillas in the Mist” was based on the adventures of an entirely different primatologist, Dian Fossey, it brought up the memory of watching that movie, and I wondered if I could share it with my kids via a little Netflix magic.

Of course then I started wondering if that was appropriate. I kinda remember there being blood. Maybe it was just the implication of blood. Whatever it was, I remember violence.

So, I’m asking you all to tap into your own movie memories. Is “Gorillas in the Mist” appropriate for kids? Mine are 6, 4 and 20 months. What do you remember of the movie?

And is anyone else planning to go see Ms. Goodall on Jan. 19 at the Civic Center?