Movie Review: Nim's Island

Review by Lisa Miller
Though not without charm, "Nim's Island" is heavily influenced by latter-20th century family films relying on overly manufactured characters and emotions. Eleven-year-old Nim (Abigail Breslin) and her father Jack (Gerard Butler), are the happy residents of an uninhabited, volcanic island located somewhere in the South Pacific. Pleased to perform full time marine research far from the distractions of civilization, Jack is also in mourning. The film's introduction, a stylized graphic featuring Nim's parents, explains that when Nim was small, her oceanographer mother was swallowed by a blue whale -- at least that's how her father tells it.

Similar to many stories casting a child as the central character, Nim is obliged to grow up before her time. She cooks yummy dinners (with meal worms!), organizes the household and functions as her father's companion. But Nim's longing for childhood activities is expressed in her chatty friendships with island animals and by her fixation on the Indiana Jonesy adventures penned by Alex Rover. Quick as she can get her hands on Rover's latest tome, Nim hunkers down in bed to read, and is transported into the midst of Rover's swashbuckling adventures.

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