Seen on: April 4, 2008

The players: Directors: Mark Levin, Jennifer Flackett, Writers: Mark Levin, Jennifer Flackett, Paula Mazur, Cast: Jodie Foster, Abigail Breslin, Gerard Butler, Alphonso McAuley, Peter Callan

Facts of interest: Based on Wendy Orr's novel of the same title.

The plot: After Nim's father goes missing from their magical island, she enlists the help of her favorite author Alexandre Rover, who will draw the courage from her fictional character to support Nim in this time of crisis. 

Our thoughts: Want some travel advice? Don’t go to “Nim’s Island.” Not only will you suffer an unnecessary loss of money, but you will also most likely waste your time. I honestly can’t think of any reason why kids would buy this mess of a movie, but then again, it’s pretty easy to please them these days. Based on a novel by Wendy Orr, the film tells the adventures of Nim (Abigail Breslin), a courageous, young girl who inhabits a remote island with her scientist father (Gerard Butler).  

Trust me on this one; “Nim’s Island” is not an adventure you would want to be part of. In a nutshell, the film is dead boring. The script is a catastrophe, but it’s the pace of the plot that does the most damage. After Nim introduces her audience to the magical life on her island, her father leaves her all alone (what the…?) to go hunting for some rare plankton in the ocean. When dad fails to return home two days later, Nim is afraid he may be lost at sea, which is why she seeks the help of her favorite author Alex Rover (Jodie Foster), creator of the world’s greatest fictional adventurer. 

What follows is a wearisome exchange of e-mails between Nim and Alex. There’s certainly nothing adventurous about this, because all they do is read the messages out loud and send each other banal replies. The movie finally moves forward, and Nim defends her island from a bunch of intruders while Alex struggles with her agoraphobia at her home in San Francisco. Although at least something’s going on at this stage, the story line still lacks passion and interest. There’s no dazzling rescue mission to find her father or teaming up with Alex to save the day. Nothing happens, in fact, and the way to the relieving end credits is a tedious one.

As I mentioned before, it’s hard to imagine younger cinemagoers may dig this film. They may laugh at the dancing sea lion or the crazy lizard, but the rest of it is just too superficial. “Nim’s Island” is probably the best film to show your kids if you want them to take a quick nap in the afternoon.

I initially expected Jodie Foster to light up in her comic role, but I was disappointed. All she does for most of the film’s running time is jump round like a psycho because she’s too afraid to leave the house. Her performance is not only annoying, but it’s also quite unconvincing. Abigail Breslin doesn’t seem to take her role very seriously either, for her performance is mostly lifeless. Butler plays her father and Foster’s hallucination of her fictional hero, but there’s not much to get excited about here either. 

Freaky quote: "Be the hero of your own life story!” – Gerard Butler

The final word: “Nim’s Island” never lifts off, fails to captivate the audience and lack surprises. I never read Orr’s novel, but I hope it’s more adventurous than this messy adaptation. I know this is the only new flick for children out there this weekend, but do yourself a favor and take yours to “Horton Hears a Who!” if you haven’t seen that one already. You really don’t want to pay Nim a visit.