Reviewed by Neil Davey
Stars Abigail Breslin, Jodie Foster, Gerard Butler, Maddison Joyce, Michael Carman, Mark Brady, Rhonda Doyle, Peter Callan
Written by Mark Levin, Jennifer Flackett, Paula Mazur
& Joseph Kwong, from the novel by Wendy Orr
Certification UK U | US PG
Runtime 95 minutes
Directed by Mark Levin & Jennifer Flackett
With a plot that could almost vie with Pirates of the Caribbean III in terms of complexity, Nim's Island is a curious, colourful kids' movie that, sadly, isn't as magical as it seems to think it is.
The omens were good: a popular source novel; Little Miss Sunshine herself; Jodie Foster doing comedy; a tale with a rich educational vein; and all assembled by the team behind the delightful Little Manhattan — which, despite its central characters being 11, is still one of the three best New York romance/comedies along with Woody Allen's Manhattan and When Harry Met Sally. Sadly, this time out Levin and Flackett miss their mark, delighting neither children — who were oddly quiet during the screening — nor grown-ups.
Nim (Breslin) is the daughter of Jack (Butler), a marine biologist who, following the death of his wife, has retreated to a private, unknown island. It's an idyllic life, where Nim gets to learn about wildlife first hand from her “friends” — a pelican, a sealion, a turtle, etc — and Jack gets to research his favoured field. Nim's experience of the wider world comes via her favourite literary action hero, Alex Rover, whose daring exploits are the focus of a series of bestselling novels.
When Jack goes missing on a research voyage, and a group of bad guys — well, fat Australian holidaymakers (They're Queenslanders, everyone hates them: Ed) — threatens the island, Nim reaches out to the person she knows can save the day: Alex Rover. What Nim doesn't realise is that Alex (in the form of Butler. Again) exists solely in the mind of novelist Alexandra Rover (Foster), an agoraphobic recluse who hasn't been out of her San Francisco apartment in months. But Alex persuades Alexandra to leave the safety of home and help Nim save her island, while Nim digs deep and discovers her own “hero within” to remove the invaders.
And it's all very colourful and silly but should have been so much more enjoyable than it is. Breslin is a fine little actress but Breslin solo isn't as charming as Breslin playing off Carrell, Colette, Kinnear, etc, while Butler, a decent lead, isn't really given anything to do other than try to fix his boat or provide a few words of cliched encouragment to Foster. The only person who comes out of the film with any real credit is Foster herself, who jettisons her image and throws herself totally into the role — dancing like a madman, falling out of boats and running into trees. Oddly, this tree/Foster interface was the only moment that got a positive reaction from the kids. Apparently, lesbian slapstick is going to be big this year... Nim's Island is, at a pinch, a safe enough, non-threatening bet for those in desperate need of family viewing. The catch is it's just not very good and, with this impressive ancestry, that's a major disappointment.