stranded by nim’s island
An “Island” only young children can love
Nim’s Island: Oh, Lord, please make Abigail Breslin grow up before she has another chance to play an insufferably precocious, spoiled child.
After her splendid, unaffected work in “Little Miss Sunshine,” she did the cloying, cute-kid bit in “Definitely, Maybe” and now she’s starring in a juvenile fantasy-adventure that insults the intelligence of even its youngest potential patrons.
Breslin plays Nim, the spoiled daughter of a widowed marine biologist (Gerard Butler of “300″ fame). These two live on one of those impossibly well-appointed uncharted islands, where their house is an exotic treetop structure and the food is as friendly as the local creatures. A pelican and sea lion are Nim’s best friends, and when her dad is missing while off on a scientific study, Nim is understandably worried.
This is the kind of movie where a sudden storm can tear up the house but in the next scene all is dry and tidy. It’s a fairy tale for adventurous little girls — girls so young that they won’t look for logic and they’ll be surprised by the most obvious of twists.
My question is this: What is Jodie Foster doing in this simplistic tale? She plays Nim’s favorite novelist, creator of a grand action hero (also portrayed by Butler) whose character is the exact opposite of his author. The writer, we soon learn, is an agoraphobic weirdo who never goes out. But of course she winds up headed for Nim’s island before the story slogs to its finish. This one’s fine for the very youngest (it’s rated PG), but grownups will find their patience strained.
It gets a C-.
As always, find lots of movie reviews by Bob Ross at bobrossmovies.com
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