Rated: PG
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Cast:
- Abigail Breslin
- Jodie Foster
- Gerard Butler
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Review - "Nim's Island"
Reviewer: Charise Payne
Rating:
Nim’s Island is a cute, family-friendly film that is great for children but lacks believability for adults. The film tries desperately to be a great live-action film but it just doesn’t get there. I had a hard time getting past the bearded dragons that make googlie eyes and play the drums and the pelican that brings a tool belt and fish for dinner. Yes, this is a special island where Nim and her father Jack are best friends with the animals, but this is not a magic island where all one's dreams come true and clothes are made by enchanted mice; it just doesn’t happen in real life, which this island home is supposed to be.
The movie is based on Wendy Orr’s tween novel of the same name, and it is about girl power, adventure, and dreams coming true. While the movie could have been made better by the handling of the comedic timing (some scenes with Jodie Foster were just downright painful), in the end, the movie is a fun story that children will love.
Nim, played by the adorable Abigail Breslin, is a smart, yet precocious, 11-year-old girl who lives on an island in the South Pacific with her widower marine biologist father, Jack (Gerard Butler). Nim’s father is obsessed with plankton, and decides to move Nim and himself to “their island” so he can supposedly study his beloved organisms without being disturbed; however, I fear the real reason they become hermits on their private island is so he can escape the pain of losing his wife.
On the secluded island, their life is that of a paradise: sandy beaches, golden sunsets, and a sea lion as your best friend. No one knows where they live, except the crew of the boat that drops off their monthly rations of food, clothing, books, etc. Nim and Jack's home is outfitted quite nicely; they have every modern convenience, minus the dishwasher, including the internet (run by satellite) and electricity (run by solar power). Nim’s father home schools her, only his idea of home-schooling is to let her run around the island all day and learn by living life. He also provides her with books and the internet to further her education.
Nim loves to read, and her favorite books are an action/adventure series written by Alex Rover, a man of the world who writes about his many death-defying adventures. But Alex Rover is really Alexandra (Jodie Foster), a female author who is scared of the world. She is a self-proclaimed agoraphobic who hasn't even left her San Francisco apartment in months, and could never imagine traveling halfway around the globe, let alone step outside to get her mail.
But soon this will all change as Alexandra and Nim become friends via email. You see, Alexandra needs help with her latest novel, and only Jack can help her. But Jack is out on an expedition, so Nim takes his place, and the two characters bond. While Jack is away, a monsoon rages, and he is stranded at sea with a broken boat and no way home. Nim is all alone, and Alex feels a maternal need to come help. Meanwhile, Nim must protect her island from a tourism company that finds the island and immediately decides to bring its passengers to the beach for a day in the sun. When the boat shows up with guests the next day, Nim protects her island from these weird humans she’s never met, aided by flying lizards and a fake smoking volcano.
For me the film is flawed because the three main characters – Nim, Jack, and Alexandra – are never together and, because of that, there was limited emotional connection with the characters. I felt like I was constantly watching three different stories, like three mini-films. Jack is trying to fix his boat to get back to his daughter, Alex is trying to overcome her mental illness and get to Nim (note to Jodie Foster’s agents: she is not a comedienne, and the attempt was embarrassing to watch. Stick with drama, she is great at it.) And then we have Nim, who is trying to be a grown-up and save her island from the unruly savages called tourists, all the while wondering if her father is dead and has left her an orphan.
Directors Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin are very creative with the story, and the way they bring Alex Rover's adventures to life is wonderful to watch. Over all, the film is great for kids and fun to watch for the whole family. But I have a problem with the logic; most of the film is unbelievable and could never happen in real life. Why is it so easy for Alexandra to get to an island that apparently no one else knows about except the monthly rations boat captain? And why is it that Nim can protect her island, climb mountains, fly in trees and cook dinner, but can’t treat a minor scrape on her leg? And since when can a lizard play the drums and a pelican deliver a tool belt? If this was Dr. Doolittle 4, I might have believed it, but it’s not, and the film's credibility suffers for it.
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