Nim's Island never finds its focus, and there's never a real sense of danger.
Comment
04/04/08
Nim's Island (2008)
49
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:95
Fresh:47
Rotten:48
Average Rating:5.7/10
Consensus: Despite good intentions, Nim's Island flounders under an implausible storyline, simplistic stock characters, and distracting product placement.
Theatrical Release:02-05-2008
Synopsis: Based on the popular children's novel of the same name by Wendy Orr, NIM'S ISLAND follows the adventures of Nim Rusoe (LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE's Abigail Breslin), a spirited young girl who lives on a... [More]
Starring: Jodie Foster, Gerard Butler, Abigail Breslin
Director: Jennifer Flackett, Mark Levin
Reviews for Nim's Island
If only Nim's hero were more original, and its story more concise.
04/04/08
Roughly what Romancing the Stone would have been like as a 1970s Disney flick had CGI been available, Nim's Island is strictly for the 8-and-under crowd.
04/04/08
Just when the movie needs real girl power, it leaves its heroine stranded.
04/04/08
Nim's Island is funny when it needs to be, serious when it's required and fantastical throughout.
04/04/08
I'm not sure what's more depressing: seeing potential tween megastar Abigail Breslin underused or watching Jodie Foster clutching a Progresso soup can for dear life and smacking head-first into a tree.
04/04/08
A good idea and a great cast are wasted in Nim’s Island, a kiddie flick pitched to second-grade sensibilities that still manages to underestimate its audience.
04/04/08
The worst movie of Jodie Foster's adult career, Nim's Island is as big a mess as you might expect from a movie with four credited writers (which means there were probably more) and two directors, all at apparent cross-purposes.
04/04/08
Nim's Island is a pleasant-enough jaunt for a family outing, but it never fully arrives at that 'perfect, secret world.'
04/04/08
Its characters, especially the youngest one, are engaging, and few adults are immune to childhood fantasies about secluded tropical isles.
04/04/08
Top CriticThe movie's dated, stereotypical comedy often contradicts its wholesome intentions, coming across as laboriously cutesy and occasionally perverse.
04/04/08
There's a stiff, constructed feel to Nim's Island, a constant sense of assembly that keeps the film from ever feeling natural. And no matter how unbelievable a tale might be, it has to take on a reality of its own to work on the screen.
04/04/08
Audiences may find early scenes of father-daughter family life more engaging than the adventures that ensue, but this is a fairly successful attempt at a preteen-friendly entertainment.
04/04/08
The film's an oddity -- an engaging, slightly overcooked fantasy about a castaway-island girl and the agoraphobic San Francisco novelist who comes to her rescue.
04/04/08
The movie is not particularly rewarding for adults or children who believe that even a tale of fantastic events should be governed by plausibility.
04/04/08
The filmmakers both pillory the tourism industry and lambaste families just out for a good time -- the same audience, I would think, for their movie.
04/04/08
Nim's Island bogs down a bit in the midsection with a subplot that seems to be more about the "do" than the derring-do, but the oft-cited phrase about becoming the hero of one's own story is a mantra that bears repetition.
04/04/08
If Nim’s Island were anything but a children’s movie, the casting genius who suggested Jodie Foster as a potential love interest for Gerard Butler would be looking for a new occupation.
04/04/08
Top CriticThis scenic adventure/comedy delivers exactly what it promises—from broad slapstick to exciting action that stops short of becoming too intense for its intended audience.
04/04/08
A scrappy and imaginative tale about a resourceful 11-year-old girl who learns how to become the hero in the story of her own life.
04/04/08
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