Project X

Project X is a 1987 science fiction comedy-drama film produced by Walter F. Parkes and Lawrence Lasker, directed by Jonathan Kaplan, and starring Matthew Broderick and Helen Hunt. The plot revolves around a USAF Airman (Broderick) and a graduate student (Hunt) who are assigned to care for chimpanzees used in a secret Air Force project. Plot University of Wisconsin graduate student Teri MacDonald has trained a chimpanzee named Virgil to use sign language. When her National Science Foundation research grant is not renewed, she is forced to sell Virgil. He is taken to an Air Force base in Lockridge, Florida, to be used in a top-secret research project involving flight simulation, though she's told that he's been sent to the Houston Zoo. Airman Jimmy Garrett is assigned to the same chimpanzee project. Virgil and Jimmy quickly bond, and Jimmy discovers that Virgil has been taught sign language. Unbeknownst to Jimmy, once the chimpanzees reach a certain level in operating the flight simulator, they will be exposed to a lethal pulse of radiation to determine how long a pilot may survive after a nuclear exchange in carrying out a second-strike. When Jimmy becomes aware of the chimpanzees' fate, he contacts Teri, who comes to the base. Teri tells Jimmy that she will inform the NSF of the deception, but Jimmy explains that she does not have enough time because Virgil is scheduled to die soon.