Nim's Island
Tags: flashback, absurd, psychedelic, storytelling, home movie

Plot synopsis:
Nim (Abigail Breslin) is an 11-year-old girl whose mother, Emily, has died. Nim's father, Jack Rusoe (Gerard Butler), a marine biologist, has told her that Emily was swallowed by a blue whale after it was scared by a ship called The Buccaneer. Nim lives with her father on a South Pacific island and has several local animals for company: Selkie the sea lion, Fred the bearded dragon, Chica the sea turtle, and Galileo the pelican. Jack takes the boat for a two-day scientific mission to find Protozoa nim (a new species of plankton he named after his daughter); he wants to take his daughter along, but she convinces him that she needs to stay to oversee the imminent hatching of Chica's eggs and can manage on her own; they will be able to communicate by satellite phone.
Nim, who is fond of Alex Rover adventure books written by Alexandra Rover (Jodie Foster), receives an email addressed to her father with an inquiry about his field of knowledge. The sender, "Alex Rover", seems to be the explorer, but is actually Alexandra, a neurotic San Franciscan who constantly imagines that she is speaking to her fictional character Alex Rover (Gerard Butler again). An email conversation follows. She goes to the island with the volcano, but is injured.
Jack suffers a shipwreck in a hurricane, making it impossible for him to communicate with Nim, and does not return as planned. Galileo brings Jack things he needs to fix his ship. Nim explains the situation to "Alex", but Alexandra suffers from agoraphobia and never leaves the house or even opens the door. The island is visited by tourists from Brisbane, Australia, whom Nim believes to be pirates. As the tourists approach the island, Nim makes it seem uninhabitable by catapulting lizards to shore. She also makes a fire in the crater of the volcano, which fools the tourists into thinking the volcano is erupting. By rolling down boulders to simulate an avalanche, she inadvertently triggers an actual eruption. Without revealing herself, she gets out of the crater just in time as a plume of ash bursts out. Down at the beach the tourists scramble to the boats. One of them, a boy, Edmund, sees and catches up with Nim. He is confused by her presence and she tells him she lives on the island. He tells the others, but they do not believe him. Meanwhile, Alexandra travels to the island to "rescue" Nim, but she, expecting "Alex" (the fictional male character), at first rejects Alexandra.
Nim later relents and they share a meal. The next day, Nim starts to cry, reasoning that her ever-successful father would be back by then if he were still alive. Fortunately, Jack reaches the island windsurfing on a makeshift catamaran. Jack and Alex meet and begin to get to know each other (Alex amazed at Jack being identical to how she pictured her fictional character), and the film ends with them all playing on the beach using a coconut as a ball.

Review: Nim appeals to an adventure writer named Alex Rover to come to the island and help look for her father (the island does have computer technology!) But, unknown to Nim, Alex is really Alexandra (Jodie Foster) and she is a shy agoraphobic who resides in San Francisco.
It's not goody-goody, either, and it's not always a smart family movie (a father leaving his kid all alone for several days?) but it's a nice movie, has funny animal characters, a lead kid who is not a brat, nice island scenery, one big-name actress (Jodie Foster) and is a diversion for an hour-and-a-half.The little dragon "Fred" is the best of the non-humans.
After watching NIM'S ISLAND, it occurred to me that Wendy Orr's children's novel would have worked much better as a Walt Disney animated feature than as a live action film with CGI effects.
It's entertaining enough for impressionable minds to appreciate--if they can understand that the Alex Roper character is really a figment of Abigail's and Jody's imagination.ABIGAIL BRESLIN is fine as the lonely island girl who has to fantasize about her pulp action hero and GERARD BUTLER is perfectly cast as her father (Jack) who goes missing for most of the story but is reunited with her--predictably--at the end after a savage storm.
With the help of the imaginary story hero Alex Rover, they step into a world of fun and adventure where the line separating fantasy and real life vanishes and dreams become realities (I know that last line was really corny, but whatever).The predominant aspect that enticed me to see the film was the awesome cast.
You have academy award winner Jodie Foster as Alexandra Rover, Abegail Breslinwho you may remember from Little Miss Sunshineplaying Nim, and the star of 300, Gerard Butler playing dual roles as the father and as the imaginary Alex Rover.
Honestly, Nim's Island is a good family film, decent enough for a watch, but I'm a little disappointed with what I was expecting.
But it's Jodie Foster's performance that majorly disappointed me, it was too forced and made the story more ridicules that what it already was.Nim is a little girl who lives on an island with her dad who is an adventurer.
Alex has one problem, she's agoraphobic, but gets the strength to go on an adventure and help Nim out with the help of her famous character Alex Rover to get through this Indiana Jones ordeal.Nim's Island is a cute movie, I would never ever say in a million years that this is a bad movie, because it is worth a look.
It was painful to see an actress like Jodie Foster reduced to such rubbish; I can't help but think that has the capacity to have turned in more a believable performance had she wanted to, but frankly this was not deserving of her best work.Perhaps we missed something special in the 55 minutes we skipped, but there was certainly no sign of it on the horizon when we left.
OK - who compelled Jodie to do this movie in the first place - it used none of her talents, and it made me think less of her (in that strange way we judge actors by the work they choose to do).However, my boys (ages 5 to 9) liked the film, especially the 6 year old who wanted to go visit the island.
The kid Nim captures the audience attention, and Jodie Foster makes a wonderful performance.Over and all, a great family movie..
And Gerard Butler is also memorable in duel roles as Nim's father and the imaginary hero Alex Rover.The story begins with an 11 year old girl named Nim(Abigail Breslin) who lives on a beautiful Island with her scientist father(Gerard Butler).
Abigail Breslin stars as Nim, a girl living with her father (Gerard Butler) on a mysterious island in the south pacific.
When her father goes missing out in the sea due to a storm, Nim asks for help from her favorite adventure novel writer, Alex Rover (Jodie Foster/Gerard Butler), via email.
But based on the narrative and structure, one can look at this movie as more than just a children's entertainment--personally, I see this movie as a statement about being a writer.If viewed with emphasis on Alex Rover's character, Nim's Island becomes an interpretation of a children's book about an author going through a writer's block and dealing with mental illness.
By the end, the truest manifestation of the author, Alex Rover, learns to be a healthier, more complete person.There are not many negative things I can say about this movie, but there are some plot elements that you must swallow in order to enjoy the movie, such as the film's departure from laws of nature and the characters' disregard for safety and logic--it's virtually the same thing as watching a talking dog in a children's cartoon, but it's harder to accept because the movie is live-action.
The story develops at a good pace that kept us entertained and quickly Jodie Fosters character is pushed way beyond her comfort zone and "Nim", beautifully played by Abigail Breslin enters her story arc surviving alone.
It can be enjoyed by both young and old.The tale is about the adventures of an 11 year old American girl, Nim (Abigail Breslin), who lives with her father on their own small private island in the South Pacific, a world expert on marine microorganisms.
When a storm batters the island, Jack becomes lost at sea, and Nim ask Alex for help.The three characters are all separated for most of the movie.
so what we have here A young girl inhabits an isolated island with her scientist father and communicates with a reclusive author of the novel she's reading , I admit that at first I was doubtful about it, but it's a Very good movie :))The movie is promising since the very beginning Foster did a great job of portraying a .
After the success of Harry Potter,Hollywood took a custom : making childish fantasies from books for the big screen.In the economical aspect,that films do not result too successful.In the quality aspect,most of that films result pretty mediocre.Because of that,I had low expectations with Nim's Island.But,I took a surprise with this film.It's not an excellent movie but I found it very entertaining and nice.The best element from this movie is that the story is more ingenious than in another childish fantasies.It also has a more detailed character development.Abigail Breslin brings a brilliant performance.She shows a lot of charisma and presence and it's easy for the spectator to sympathize with her character.With Little Miss Sunshine,Keane and this movie,Breslin has became in one of the best and most versatile young actresses in Hollywood.Jodie Foster has always been an extraordinary actress but,on this movie,she shows she also is a great comedian.Gerard Butler did not convince me at all on his character.He showed zero charisma.Another fail from this movie is that some elements feel a little bit forced.But,in spite of that,I can recommend Nim's Island as a very entertaining family film.I had low expectations with it and I took a nice surprise..
Now they must draw courage from their fictional hero, Alex Rover, and find strength in one another to conquer Nim's Island.I was looking forward to this film quite a bit because I've never seen Jodie Foster in a comedy, away from her usual thrillers.
A major flaw is that nim gets a serious 5 inch cut on her leg below the knee which she say's to Alexandra in the mail that there is pus oozing from cut on her leg & the movie's story just ignores the scene like it wasn't even there.Download if u have kids.Good for them bad for you..............
This private paradise in the South Pacific is where Nim Rusoe (Abigail Breslin) and her scientist father Jack (Gerard Butler) live in peaceful co-existence with their animal friends, who also ably provide comic relief.Breslin remains cute and effective, despite having grown so fast from her stints in Little Miss Sunshine and No Reservations.
Although at times too theatrical, Butler is great overall in his double role as Nim's dad and as the swashbuckling hero Alex Rover in writer Alexandra Rover (Jodie Foster)'s bestselling books.
Nim contacts writer Alexandra Rover (Jodie Foster) author of the Alex Rover adventure novels (also played by Gerard Butler) who is an agoraphobic, germaphobe recluse who has not left her house for years and must travel to this remote island to save Nim from impending buccaneers while having pep talks with the imaginary Alex Rover.Nim's Island is a strange film.
Nim emails a reclusive popular adventure writer (Jodi Foster) in San Francisco for help.I'm a sucker for island movies and this one's quite good but, for me, it's hindered by its "children's adventure/fantasy" approach.
Jodie Foster plays an agoraphobic author (who pens cliffhanger stories under the guise of an Indiana Jones-type adventurer) who is contacted via the internet by a preteen girl struggling to survive on a remote island after her scientist father goes missing at sea.
i am sure children will love it i am really glad that i had time to watch a classic film nice one i take my hat off when she was sad i found it sad too but the dad returned and a great happy ending.the island looked amazing.
Suffice it to say it involves the unlikely meeting of two people from opposite corners of the world: an eleven-year-old young girl named Nim (Abigail Breslin), who lives, "Tempest"-like, all alone with her biologist father (Gerard Butler) on a small island in the South Seas, and a writer of popular adventure novels (Jodie Foster), living in San Francisco, who's afraid to leave her own house.
The fourth major character comes in the form of a floating incarnation of the author's signature creation - an Indiana Jones-type adventurer (also played by Butler) - who periodically appears out of thin air to offer sage advice both to the writer and to the young girl stuck on the island.While "Nim's Island" earns some points for putting a young girl and a middle-aged woman up-front-and-center in an action scenario, the movie, as a whole, is a bit too cutesy and corny to be of much interest to an adult audience.
Yet, ironically, the scenery-chewing performance by Foster is probably the best thing in the picture, since at least we get a few laughs out of this neurotic agoraphobe/germaphobe finding herself suddenly and reluctantly living out a real life adventure of her own.For a far better take on this whole literature-come-to-life thing, my advice would be to set your course for the truly wonderful "The Fall" - or even the less impressive "Inkheart" - and paddle away from "Nim's Island.".
And being a kid's movie, you know there is a happy ending with Nim's dad.One of the good things about this film is there is quite a bit of comedy.
When Nim's dad Jack Rusoe (Gerard Butler, BEOWULF & GRENDEL) gets 'lost at sea', there's really little doubt he'll survive  especially with the help of Galileo the Pelican.Also, when Alexandra Rover (Foster) is forced to decide between her agoraphobia and saving Nim from a life of possible solitude on an uncharted island, there's no doubt she'll overcome her fears and be forced out into the world (it's also entertaining to see how she experiences life outside of her small apartment where she types away on action-adventure books that Nim loves to read).There's not much point to the story, either.
So far this year's releases have included quite a few closely followed and undeniably spectacular adaptations of classic novels, but this one that is based on a story by Wendy Orr  although still a heap of fun  is a long way down from the others.Things begin to look dreary as the film starts with a bland introduction done with a pop-up book style animation that is intended to inform us of but instead openly mocks the passing of one short-lived character, an adventurous oceanographer that is swallowed by a whale.
This is followed by a scene in which the daughter of the late scientist, Nim (Abigail Breslin) shows us the beautiful island paradise that she, her animal friends and her also scientist father (Gerard Butler) have all to themselves, an idea that has been used so many times that it just no longer works.But it all starts to look up when her dad takes a small sail boat out into the big blue to go searching for rare microscopic marine life and a horrific storm strands him in the open ocean with no food, no water, no communication, nothing to power his boat with and no idea where he could possibly be.
After the desperate girl emails her fictional hero Alex Rover (Gerard Butler) for help, the character's agoraphobic creator (Jodie Foster) decides to head for the island, conquering her fears in the process.My seven year old daughter had this film recommended to her by a school friend, and to be fair, I can understand why: Nim's Island is exactly the kind of wish-fulfilment cack undemanding girls of that age lap up: a few cute animals, a character they can identify with, a bit of mild peril, and a happy ending, and they're usually content!
I, on the other hand, am a cynical adult and can see this film for the garbage that it really is...I don't see a charming tale of fun of adventure; I see a horribly twee story which liberally steals from the much better Romancing the Stone (in which a timid writer also braves danger in a desperate bid to rescue someone), whilst throwing in pointless plot threads (the disappearance of Nim's mother, the Buccaneer, the circling sharks) that make little sense and fail to go anywhere interesting.I don't see a brave girl protecting an idyllic island paradise from the threat of evil businessmen; I see a misguided brat who attacks innocent travellers because she believes, thanks to her father's teachings, that she has the exclusive right to enjoy what does not really belong to her.I don't see Gerard Butler's marine biologist father as the perfect caring parent: I see an irresponsible man who deprives his child of important social skills and who ultimately leaves her to fend for herself whilst he tries to achieve his own selfish goals.I don't see what is funny about launching animals through the air to certain doom via catapult.
I like a good family movie, and Nim's Island was that.
Here's a story of a little girl (Abigail Breslin, a long way from the "Little Miss Sunshine" pageant) who lives with her dad on an uncharted island, makes friends with its inhabitant animals, and go into all sorts of adventure with her caring yet similarly adventurous father (and for the ladies, her father happens to be Gerard Butler).NIM'S ISLAND is like a hybrid of SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON, KITT KITTREDGE (because of Breslin's spunk) and HOME ALONE.
Breslin's Nim also loves to read adventure novels, namely those starring her favorite hero Alex Rover (his Indy Jones-like imaginary representation also played by Butler).
All the makings of a classic family movie.The film, for those unfamiliar with the book, revolves around Nim and her Father and the secret island the live on.
When Nim's father goes missing while doing research, she reaches out to the neurotic, reclusive, and "borderline Agoraphobic" Alexandria Rover for help.Comedy, fun, and adventure ensue.One of the best parts of this movie was how it encouraged both reading and using one's imagination.My kids (both girls, ages six and nine) enjoyed it and my wife and I also thought it was just great.Update 4/11/2008 - My oldest daughter is about halfway through the book and reports that the movie stays very true to the book for the most part..
Nim Rusoe(Abigal Breslin)is a young girl that lives on a deserted island with her scientist father Jack(Gerard Butler).
Foster is convincing in this comedic turn as writer Alexandra Rover and the charming Scottish Butler, in a dual role as Nim's father and Foster's adventurous alter ego, shows us glimpses of why he has suddenly become Hollywood's new "go to" leading man.This movie works as family entertainment, but there is something for everyone to enjoy, as evidenced by the adult turnout in the theaters.".
Butler's only real fun is when he plays Foster's alter ego, Alex, a wise-cracking Aussie adventurer who pushes her to finally do the right thing.Overall, this movie is fairly harmless and cute enough to bring in the young girls (I know my eight-year old really liked it), although there isn't a whole lot of substance here..
I really liked this one.Of course you have to watch it through eyes of 12 years old kid but if you manage that - then you realize what wonderful and magical movie it is.Personally I would skip the Buccaneer part and focused more on characters and their reunion but on other hand there was a message hidden - how people spoil everything and turn a paradise into a product.To sum it up - Abigail (Nim) is cute and lovable kid, Jodie (Alex) beautiful and funny at the same time and Gerard (Jack) is just great as usual.
Abigail Breslin, Jodie foster, and Gerald Butler all do very well in their respective roles.Nim is an eleven year old girl who has lived on a remote island in the south Pacific ocean with her dad since she was four.
Nim loves nature and animals, and that's how she learns many things.Alexandria Rover, played by Jodie Foster, is an agoraphobic writer who has written a series of books about a great adventurer called Alex Rover, mimicking her own name.
Abigail Breslin is now one of my favorite actresses; She does so well portraying Nim. If you don't like lighthearted family films, don't watch it, but if you do, give this movie a try.
Abigail Breslin really shines in this movie as Nim, while Gerard Butler plays a dual role: Jack (Nim's father) and Alex Rover (the adventurer).