If you’re past the stage of puberty, you’re likely to find yourself, like one of the main characters, lost at sea while watching Nim’s Island.

Not to worry, however, because in almost every dramatic scene in the movie, you can be sure to count on Patrick Doyle’s over-the-top orchestral score to intrusively supply you with the relevant emotional cues.

The Story

Walden Media’s latest project, Nim’s Island (think Robinson Crusoe meets Home Alone), sticks out like a sore thumb from its list of otherwise highly impressive family entertainment fare such as The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Charlotte’s Web.

The story, adapted from the 1999 novel by Canadian-born, Australian-based writer Wendy Orr, is most engaging, but the execution of the film is an altogether different matter.

Abigail Breslin, Oscar-nominated Little Miss Sunshine child actress, plays Nim Rusoe, a feisty, independent prepubescent who lives with her reclusive scientist father, Jack Rusoe (Gerald Butler) in a large tree house – which just happens to conveniently come along with electricity and Internet – on a secret South Pacific island. And it gets better. There’s Galileo the pelican, Selky the sea lion and, cutest of all, Fred the bearded dragon lizard – all of who seem to have the astonishing ability to understand the human language.

And what’s a fantasy film without its own battle with Mother Nature? Here, a raging storm hits the area while Jack is away on a 3-day trip to do research on plankton, leaving him lost at sea. For help, Nim turns to an online acquaintance who she thinks is her literary hero, Alex Rover (also played by Gerald Butler); little does she know that Alex is really his creator, Alexandra Rover (Jodie Foster), an agoraphobic San Francisco author who has not left her home in months (she relies heavily on the wonders of the Internet for survival), let alone made it out of her house to collect her own mail. But (surprise surprise) Alexandra somehow finds herself moved by the little girl’s pleas – not without intense sessions of persuasion by visions of Alex only she can see, of course – and then proceeds to leave the warm protective cocoon of her home to hyperventilate her way across the Pacific to save Nim.

Meanwhile, Nim’s private little paradise suddenly becomes not so private anymore when a cruise ship filled with obese Australian tourists begin invading her beach. Breslin then does a Macaulay Culkin and sets up wild booby traps to reclaim what is rightfully hers – the island – from the claws of the pasty invaders.

Freddy the bearded dragon lizard provides immense comical relief as he and his army of scaly friends soar through the air in a bid to attack the horde of intruders.

Not too far away, Jack, struggles with a sinking boat and is surrounded by hungry sharks awaiting his doom. Unfortunately for them, Galileo the pelican swoops to Jack’s rescue by providing him with fresh fish and a set of handy tools so that he can repair his boat and get back home.

Of course, Nim doesn’t know this and just when they thought all hope was lost, Alexandra notices a speck in the far distance. To their delight, they realise it was Galileo bringing Jack home.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Father and daughter are overjoyed upon seeing each other and hug as if there was no tomorrow. What happened to Alexandra, you ask? Well, she and Jack fell in love and she became the mother Nim never had; in short, a predictable happy ending to a 21st century children fantasy film.

The Acting

Truth be told, it was a little painful watching Foster in this film and yes, this is the same Jodie “2-time-Oscar-Best-Actress-winner” Foster – for her roles in The Accused and The Silence of the Lambs, respectively – we’re talking about. Her acting was rather forced, to say the least, and only served to make the film all the more unrealistic.

Butler, on the other hand, was endearing and not to mention, sexy. The hunky actor shone in his role as fictional Alex Rover and had me laughing out in fits but fell flat as Jack the Scientist.

What about Abigail Breslin? She was simply a delight to watch (can the girl do no wrong?) and, in my humble opinion, the saving grace of the film. She more than brought Nim to life and managed to steer mighty clear of being overly cute – all while maintaining an air of likeable innocence around her.

Verdict

All in all, it’s a rather fun story and the film must be given credit for its novel interpretation of the thin line that separates fiction from reality. It reminds viewers that really anything can happen as long as you put your imagination into it – something that everyone can relate to.

Too bad the film loses its momentum, as the plot regularly veers perilously close to cheesiness. Worst of all, the numerous product placements (namely Apple, Purell Hand Sanitizer and Progresso soup ) throughout the 96-minute film can get rather distracting as you often find yourself focusing on the products instead of the film. The New York Post claims that Nim’s Island has suffered the worst case of product placement-itis this year.

Thus, it is with great care that I say this is a movie for only the youngest of moviegoers to appreciate so I strongly suggest you stay a safe distance away if you are above the age of 12.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Movie Details

Opens: May 1

Movie Rating: PG 13

Running Time: 96 mins

Language: English

Cast: Abigail Breslin, Jodie Foster, Gerald Butler

Director: Mark Levin, Jennifer Flackett