What Do The Critics Say?

"Based on Wendy Orr's children's novel, Nim's Island is the perfect family film, a congenial, heart-warming story whose endearing characters are a pleasure to join, as they journey to find the hero within. Directors Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett get the film's tone just right, with a nice mix of comedy and pathos." Louise Keller URBANCINEFILE "In addition to the island fantasy, the adorable pets and Nim's courage and plucky sense of survival, the Alex Rover elements are priceless. Plenty of things happen that adults will have to overlook and forget any reasoning because this is a movie aimed at kids, and on that point it delivers." Diana Saenger REVIEWEXPRESS "It’s a wondrous and warmhearted adventure story - nifty special effects and some first-rate performances." Richard Roeper EBERT & ROEPER "... family adventure film that should be quite popular with the grade-school girls at which it's aimed." Moira MacDonald SEATTLE TIMES "With its spirit of fantasy and adventure, Nim's Island is targeting the 8 - 12 year old girls who will place themselves centre stage of this charming and thrilling story, where the worlds of a writer's imagination and her reader's imagination fuse into a rollicking good time. The small Pacific island home where Nim and Jack live is so wonderfully designed I am ready to move in tomorrow; it even has its own sound proofed generator, and fast broadband connection." Andrew L Urban URBANCINEFILE "Based on Wendy Orr's youthful feminized spin on Robinson Crusoe, "Nim's Island" is a low-key adventure comedy for preteens that will touch the hearts of their gooey-eyed parents. Even if Foster’s attendant pratfalls fail to register many laughs, the movie’s overall feel-good tone chimes like a bell." Cole Smithey COLESMITHEY.COM

"Depending on which trailer you watch, you might get the idea that Nim’s Island is a star vehicle for Jodie Foster, Gerard Butler or Abigail Breslin. And even after seeing the movie, that’s a hard question to answer, considering the actors each spend a majority of the movie separate from each other. Still, the film is owned by Abigail Breslin, who steals the show from both of her elder, more experienced co-stars. And this makes sense because she’s the title character. There are some moments that might annoy anyone over the age of ten. But the target market of young kids should just enjoy the adventure." Kevin Carr FILM SCHOOL REJECTS "There are multiple stories embedded within the story; it’s a pint-sized version of "Stranger than Fiction" meets "Doctor Dolittle". This adult, burdened with being a parent and a professional movie critic (who tries not to be jaded and dismissive); found one vital piece of the tale to be ridiculous and the entirety to be only marginally successful. Yet asking kids to believe that instant romance will blossom when Alexandra and Mr. Rusoe meet is the biggest whopper in Nim’s Island." John P McCarthy REELTALK MOVIE REVIEWS "All things considered, the movie does a good enough job of filling that void of kid films between cartoons and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. It's worth spending 90 minutes on Nim's Island. You just wouldn't want to get stranded there. The production values are Walden's best yet. But the adventure is a little shy of magical, the comedy just short of hilarious, the whimsy forced." Roger Moore ORLANDO SENTINEL "Walden Media isn't perfect, but in terms of consistently producing quality entertainment for kids based on popular books, it has no peer. Tweens, and particularly tween girls, will have a fine time cheering on the ever-resourceful Nim while laughing at the fearful Alexandra. Parents should have no fear entrusting their youngsters to Walden's latest effort." Daniel M Kimmel WORCESTER TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

The Inside Story In 2002, author Wendy Orr published "Nim’s Island", a tale that brought to life a whimsical, adventure-filled tropical paradise like no other and two irresistible heroines: bold young Nim, who leads a modern-day Swiss Family Robinson lifestyle filled with excitement on a remote isle surrounded by her scientist father, close animal companions; and adventure writer Alexander Rover, who leads a completely opposite life of seclusion and high anxiety in her big city apartment; that is, until her biggest fan reaches out to her for help. When fate brings Nim and Alexandra together, it appears that no two people could be any more different. Nim craves the thrill of great journeys and true friendships, while Alexandra is a comical bundle of frayed nerves. But the two quickly discover that they share something vital in common – a belief in the power of the imagination, and a love of Alexandra’s fictional creation, Alex Rover, whose boundless courage and derring-do will inspire them to go amazing places and make close connections of which they once only dreamed. Nim ultimately finds herself in the midst of one of the greatest adventures of all: becoming a family. The Los Angeles Times called Orr’s book, "a refreshing fantasy tale . . . with ample doses of suspense and comedy" and noted that "readers will want to believe everything about the likeable Nim and her idyllic isle." Move forward in time a few years to when film producer Paula Mazur ("Corrina, Corrina") suddenly discovers "Nim’s Island" in a Santa Monica library bin. Intrigued by the title, she takes the book home to read to her children, and inspiration instantly strikes. "I found it such a beautiful story, so well-written, with such strong characters, with this father, daughter and author who are all destined to find one another," Mazur recalls she immediately thought: "I’d love to see this as a movie". Mazur revealed she was thrilled to find that the screen rights to the story were available and quickly put a screenplay adaptation into motion. Soon after, she joined forces with Walden Media. Both Mazur and Walden hoped Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett (TV's "The Wonder Years"), the husband and wife team who recently wrote and directed the critically acclaimed "Little Manhattan" would take on the task of raising the story the story to a richer, cinematic level. The tone of "Little Manhattan" was very real and not sentimental and the script was so clever and beautiful. "I just had a gut feeling they were the right people for Nim's Island," says Mazur, "and Walden felt the same way." "We saw the foundation for a beautiful movie, and we took great inspiration from our daughter in approaching how to write and direct the movie, because we wanted to create something that she would love, and also something that reflected her, because to us she is a lot like Nim," Levin says. Flackett notes: "We were really excited to try to capture that sense of a child’s love of running and jumping and having adventures. There aren’t many roles like that for girls, and we wanted to give that to our daughter. We’ve also both always loved the kinds of really potent family films that transcend age and time and we definitely saw the potential for that in this story." So where do you start, when adapting a story for the screen? Levin and Flackett went straight to what they saw was heart of the story. "The core of it is about people trying to make a connection. It’s about a father who’s trying to get home to his little girl, a girl who’s trying to reach out to her hero in her hour of need, a writer trying to connect with the world and with the person she always wanted to be, and most of all, about a family trying to restore itself. These are the themes of the book, and they are what always drove us in creating the movie, from the screenplay to the set," Levin summarizes. Flackett admits they did outwardly expand some of the events of the novel to create more drama and visual excitement on the screen. "Everything that happens in the movie also happens in the book, but we took the basic events and made them all just a little bit bigger and more cinematic." "There’s something about the twelve year-old psyche that is a lot of fun and also very poignant as a point of view, because it’s such a transformative time in everybody’s life," says Levin. "For us, there was also a lot of joy that came from being able to use so much imagination in all of Nim’s world." From the minute Nim, her island life and her powerful imagination popped into author Wendy Orr’s head, she knew she was onto something very special. "Nim is fiercely courageous, loyal and resilient. She has her flaws when you’re a writer there are certain characters you create that you love more than others, and Nim is one of those that I really, really fell in love with as I was writing," the author confessed. The filmmakers of Nim’s Island felt precisely the same way about Nim, which led to a dilemma: how would they ever find a young actress who could really bring the lead character to life. Initially the production teams idea was to conduct a world-wide search. That thought was quickly put aside thanks to the critically acclaimed film, "Little Miss Sunshine". "When we saw Abigail’s performance it became very clear that we didn’t need to do a worldwide search at all!" Mazur comments. "When we met her, we were even more certain she could inhabit Nim beautifully." Levin and Jennifer Flackett remember the indelible moment. "We were both like, wow, she is so original and real and emotionally accessible. And her smile is so fantastic," says Flackett. "She is so much a kid living her life in extraordinary circumstances and that really comes across as Nim." And what was it that attracted the Academy Award ® nominee to the role? "It was something new that I’d never done before," says Breslin ("No Reservations" & "Definitely, Maybe"). "I got to do a lot of climbing and running, and flying on the zip-line, which was really fun. And sword fighting! I also did a lot of training for the scenes in the water, I learned how to do duck dives, how to hold my breath under water, and even how to scream under water." Stunt coordinator Glenn Ruehland ("Dead Calm" & "Moulin Rouge!") who watched as the role transformed Breslin both physically and mentally revealed, "Abigail went from being this sophisticated girl from New York to a real action girl by the end of production." And what sort of training regime was she put through? "She went through underwater swimming training, zip line training, and was even towed through the water by four hundred pound Sea Lions. She got a vast amount of experience in action in this one role and we watched her develop great confidence," Ruehland said. When Nim finds herself feeling alone and threatened on her island she reaches out to the one person she beileves can help her: action hero Alex Rover. What Nim doesn't know is that Alex Rover is nit real. In fact Rover is the product of the creative skills of author Alexandra Rover. Luckily for the team, two time Academy Award ® winning actress Jodie Foster ("The Accused" & "The Silence of the Lambs") had received an early draft of the script and wanted in. Mazur admits, "You don’t necessarily think of Jodie Foster and comedy in the same vein. But Jodie really wanted this role, and she’s certainly one of the best actresses alive, so we thought that if she believed she could pull it off, she certainly could." Foster, whose career started fourteen with Martin Scorsese’s "Taxi Driver", has gone on to become one of the worlds favourite actresses. Her film work has been rewarded with numerous awards including BAFTA's ("Bugsy Malone" & "The Silence of the Lambs"), Saturn Awards ("The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane" & "Contact") and three David di Donatello Awards ("Taxi Driver", "The Accused" & "Nell"). Levin notes, "The idea of her playing this writer leading an agoraphobic life and discovering her inner child started to seem like the perfect journey for Jodie to take the audience on." Foster says it was the spirit of the tale that captivated her so completely from the start. "It’s a wonderful story that inspires girls, and boys, to take adventures and really experience the world. Nim shows what being the hero of your own life story is all about." Foster admits she’s never really been an extreme outdoors sort of person. Reuhland however was impressed with how she attacked the role’s many action scenes in the air, on land and underwater. "Jodie’s ability to go into any situation, even in the underwater tank, and be very relaxed and comfortable was just fantastic," he said. "She’s a very, very fit woman and that shows in her performance." Foster hit it off straight away with Breslin and says she got a big kick out of working with Gerard Butler who plays Alexandra's fictional hero, Alex Rover, noting "He was wonderful to work with." MTV Movie Award winner Buter confesses, "We had such a great time together, sometimes I had to pinch myself. We had great fun experimenting and discovering new ideas and I think her character is hilarious. Alexandra and Alex have a dynamic that is very unexpected." Originally, the team planned to cast two actors for the roles of Rover and Nim's father. Butler convinced them otherwise. "He has the range and the charisma to be able to do justice to both characters," says Levin. Butler says he found the film too hard to resist. "I thought it was so very charming and fun and adventurous. And I was very excited by the challenge of playing two characters at once." Mazur says, "The scenes when Alex gets Alexandra out of her apartment are just a tour de force." "Nim's Island" was hot on location on the sandy beaches of Australia’s Gold Coast and the lush rainforests of Hinchinbrook Island. Synopsis

Anything can happen on Nim's Island, an uncharted hideaway for Nim and her father Jack Rusoe. Here Nim (whose mother was tragically killed when she was swallowed by a whale while on a research trip), is surrounded by her exotic animal friends a nd inspired by legends and books, leads an amazing tropical existence that mirrors that of her favorite literary hero: Alex Rover, the world’s greatest adventurer. When her island is threatened she reaches out to her hero for help. What Nim doesn’t know is that the acclaimed author of the Rover books is, in fact, Alexandra Rover, a retiring, fainthearted recluse locked away in a big city apartment. Now, as Alexandra nervously ventures forth into the world and Nim faces the biggest challenge of her exciting young life, they must both draw courage from the fictional gallantry of Alex Rover,and find strength in one another to save Nim’s Island.

The Verdict "Just in time for school holidays, a period when every parent is hoping something 'family' will come along, the charming, adventure film "Nim's Island" has arrived. Thanks to it's charming star, Abigail Breslin, this is one film every little girl will be begging their mums to take them too. The perfect holiday outing for Mum's and daughter's, Grandma and her granddaughters, Aunties and their nieces and solo dad's looking for something that will capture and captivate their little darling. It's another starring role for Screen Actors Guild Award winner Breslin, who captured the hearts of cinemagoers all over the world, with her outstanding performance as Olive Hoover in "Little Miss Sunshine". As she did in that film, Breslin, despite the good performances from Foster, Butler and the numerous cute animals featured in "Nim's Island", steals every scene she appears in. It's hard to believe that native New Yorker Breslin, who got her start as a five year old playing Bo Hess in M Night Shyamalan's 2002 film "Signs", has quickly developed so quickly into, not only a highly accomplished young actress but also looks poised to become a star prospect as a teenager. "Nim's Island" will have plenty of opposition over the holiday period but should still fare well at the box-office. Highly recommended for a tweeners day out. A great chance for matriarchal bonding with the young female members of the tribe. 3 STARS." Who's Who?

Abigail Breslin Jodie Foster Gerard Butler Shannon van der Life Michael Carman Mark Brady Anthony Simcoe Christopher Baker Peter Callan Rhonda Doyle Maddison Joyce Russell Butler Colin Gibson Jay Laga'aia

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Nim Alexandra Rover Jack/Alex Rover Nim's Mother Captain Purser First Mate Ensign Edmund's Father Edmund's Mother Edmund Old Fisherman Cruise Director Helicopter Pilot

Run Time 96 minutes Rated PG [AUST] Copyright ©2008 - Universal Pictures International - All Rights Reserved ©2008 All Rights Reserved - Protected by Australian, International, Copyright & Trademark Laws.