Parents' Guide to Jane's Journey

If JANE'S JOURNEY could be condensed to a tightly edited 70-minute tribute to the admittedly awe-inspiring Goodall, it would make an excellent documentary about a complicated woman. The visuals are beautiful -- especially the scenes in Tanzania's Gombe National Park, which is Goodall's "home." But at just over 100 minutes, the film's substance is too spread out -- spanning everything from Goodall's origins to her shift from Africa-based primatologist to citizen of the world -- to provide more than a passing insight on any period of the famous anthropologist's life. It's understandable, because what a life it's been for Goodall, whose devotion to the chimpanzees seems to have eclipsed every thing else -- even her own son, who's open about his struggles with Goodall throughout the years.

Jolie and other luminaries/Friends of Jane pop up to celebrate Goodall's transition into a world-traveling activist for change. A lot of celebrities hitch their wagons on various "causes," but Jolie has proven herself to be truly globally minded, so her anecdote about how Goodall changed her life is sincerely believable. Another touching moment comes when Goodall visits the Lakota reservation, which has astronomical youth suicide rates. Her impact on the lives of the Lakota community via her Roots and Shoots nonprofit leads a bereaved father to weep, unable to find the words to thank Goodall for caring when no one else did. Ultimately, this film would have benefited from a narrower focus (think Born to Be Wild, which takes half the time to capture two renowned women very similar to, albeit lesser known than, Goodall) or at least a shorter running time. Remarkable as Goodall is, the film tends toward the bland when it should have been as spirited as its subject.