Movie and Television Reviews

Youtube movie trailer.

Nim's Island is a soft-edged, FAO Schwarz-like couple of hours that kids will find fun, perhaps even adventurous, and parents won't mind.

Nim (Abigail Breslin) is a twelve-year-old girl who lives on a secret (Apparently, Google Earth missed that spot. I actually overheard the coordinates Nim gives to Alexandra, but if I tell you, it wouldn't be secret, now, would it?) South Pacific island inhabited only by her father, Jack (Gerard Butler), and herself. The father spends his time studying sea protozoa while Nim plays with her animal friends and reads Alex Rover books. Alex Rover (Also, Gerard Butler) is a Scottish-burring(?) cowboy and archetypal American action hero: Rough and daring as opposed to a suave or brainy English Holmes or Bond. Alex-fount Alexandra Rover is an agoraphobic priss with an extreme resistance to adventure: Alex's ironic opposite, in other words.

Needing a plausible scenario for her past-due Alex Rover novel, Alexandra emails Nim (as "Alex") with some volcano questions, and later, Nim reaches out to Alex Rover for help when Jack encounters a storm and gets stranded at sea. In surprisingly un-disturbing psychotic delusions, Alex convinces Alexandra to make the long, dangerous voyage to the island. A group of repellent Australian (redundant, I know [just kidding]) tourists whom Nim must repel to save the anonymity of the island complicates the story.

If one ignores the incredibleness of Alexandra's transformation and over-the-top journey as well as the fantastical thinking and human-comprehending animals, Nim's Island is as pleasant as the beautifully filmed island scenery. It's funny, the acting's great, especially from the unrecognizable Jodie Foster, and, unlike, Enchanted, the ending is completely satisfactory.

Message/ Politics:

Very conservative, I think. Nim's island is another father-daughter story, a popular combination for reasons I outline here. Nim's Island suggests that women need real men, not imaginary manifestations of admired but non-possessed auto-traits. It's also good than men should have a helpmate. Refreshingly, Nim's Island subverts no traditions, makes no political points despite the many opportunities, and doesn't teach anybody to "accept."

I like the contrasts Nim's Island makes between thinking, imagining, and physical action. Alexandra writes about volcanoes while Nim actually climbs one. Is one conquest of volcano more valuable than another? Must one validate thought through action? Is caring about a little girl as good as risking one's life to save her? Is faith without works dead?