Nim's Island 2008

Nell Minow, Chicago Sun-Times: An eye-filling and heart-warming story Read more

Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times: 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. Read more

Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader: Foster proves adept at broad physical comedy, the animated sequences charm, and codirectors Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett send up the make-believe Rover with panache. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: A sweet-natured family adventure film that should be quite popular with the grade-school girls at which it's aimed. Read more

Keith Phipps, AV Club: Directors Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin deliver some eye-catching fantasy sequences in the early scenes, but the film grows more mundane and the tone more uneven as it goes on. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Nim's Island is an old-fashioned kids' movie. Parents might find flaws, but the 12-and-younger set will find characters and a movie worth rooting for. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: 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. Read more

Tasha Robinson, Chicago Tribune: There's a lot to like about spunky Breslin, even when she's unnecessarily recapping events or recapitulating Home Alone as she chases caricatured cruise-ship tourists from her island. She's a charismatic, energetic presence at the heart of the film Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: Nim's Island is a pleasant-enough jaunt for a family outing, but it never fully arrives at that 'perfect, secret world.' Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: 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. Read more

Eric D. Snider, Film.com: I'm not going to quibble too much with a harmless adventure flick meant for tween girls. Then again, I'm not going to knock myself out recommending it, either. Read more

Robert Wilonsky, L.A. Weekly: Despite its formula and flaws (chief among them Foster's sitcom-campy performance), Nim's Island is a perfectly pleasant, agreeably innocuous 'tweener adventure film. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: If only Nim's hero were more original, and its story more concise. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Just when the movie needs real girl power, it leaves its heroine stranded. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: 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. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: It's worth spending 90 minutes on Nim's Island. You just wouldn't want to get stranded there. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: Keep your shirts on, ladies. You don't need to rent a child to see this mildly diverting, if middling, adventure. Read more

Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle: Nim's aquatic adventures and those on land provide the majority of thrills in this exhilarating and enchanting family picture. It's the best I've seen this year and highly recommended for girls and for boys, too. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: Nim's Island is a movie for kids who like to think and read and use their imagination, and for parents who may be tired of family fare that's nothing but a litany of cutesy pop-culture references. Read more

Peter Schilling, Minneapolis Star Tribune: A slapdash amalgam of competing visual and storytelling styles, bizarre acting, egregious product placement (particularly for National Geographic) and negative stereotypes. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: The movie's dated, stereotypical comedy often contradicts its wholesome intentions, coming across as laboriously cutesy and occasionally perverse. Read more

Philip Marchand, Toronto Star: The movie is not particularly rewarding for adults or children who believe that even a tale of fantastic events should be governed by plausibility. Read more

Drew Toal, Time Out: Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Nim's Island is a win-win proposition: an entertaining, diverting adventure saga that offers excitement and a relatable heroine for children, and also will remind their parents of favorite classics from their own youth. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: Nim's Island is a picturesque adventure-comedy that quickly capsizes under the weight of its obnoxious slapstick, pedestrian dialogue and general unwillingness to rise above stock ideas and situations. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: Even as the derivative roots of "Nim's Island" are clearly visible, kids will no doubt vicariously enjoy Nim's adventures and Edenic existence. Read more