I finally saw Nim's Island!
Wow, it's been over two months since I posted last! I've been busy with family and writing, so some things had to give, but I'm reading my FLIST's posts regularly. Leave it to a special occasion such as my actually seeing a Gerry Butler movie while it was still in the theater, to prompt me to post! I feel the occasion deserves a formal review of the movie.
the review
I have to admit it was very nice to get to see a family movie with my two girls that mom actually enjoyed just as much (or more if you measure enjoyment by pulse rate) as the kids did.
Beautifully shot on Hinchbrook Island, Queensland, Australia, the film concerns a widowed scientist named Jack Rusoe who is quite content living on a deserted island with various entertaining animals including a sea lion, and his precious objects of research, marine protozoa. Oh, and there’s someone else on the island, but I can’t seem to recall much about the character. Jack lost his wife, an oceanographer, years before, and explained her apparently being lost at sea with a sweet story of how a frightened whale swallowed her along with the boat. Seeing Jack’s wife engulfed by the whale was an extremely heartwarming part of the film, leaving Jack emotionally traumatized, vulnerable, and very single/available. All of the women in the audience breathed a collective sigh of relief at the conclusion of that scene and a couple even raised their fists and yelled “Yeah!” I heard it!
The story then picks up with an overview of Jack’s life on the island where he writes articles for National Geographic and studies marine protozoa. He’s built a charming house there and shares it with…darn, I can’t seem to remember…but anyway, Jack is a wonderful combination of handsome, tan, and healthy, but with a sort of professorial look from his eyeglasses. As a matter of fact, he looks disconcertingly like Will Wood! It got me thinking-Will was just on an island…Jack is on an island…Dear God, did Will play the part of Jack Rusoe? And how did he do it while the opium was still in his system? But that line of logic only sidetracked me for a minute or two. Back to the important stuff. I have to admit I was a little disappointed that Jack wore those eyeglasses in a longish, close-up scene where I could have had the opportunity to melt into those incredible eyes. When I pay 8 bucks for a matinee, I want to get my money’s worth, not a glass reflection obscuring Gerry Butler’s eyes!
Luckily his glasses got swept to sea during his hair-raising adventure on his sailboat in stormy weather, and his eyes were blissfully unencumbered for the rest of the movie.
Now then - back to the storyline. Jack takes a research sailing trip in search of more of his beloved protozoa and unfortunately gets caught in a terrible storm. Well, it’s really not that unfortunate, because he gets injured (nice cut/bruise over the left brow and a bloody hand), swept overboard repeatedly, and gets all angsty about returning home to his island and…whomever it is he’s trying to get back to. Can’t remember. Jack also gets to play MacGyver on his boat, with the help of a pelican named Gallileo. (Any Brits on my flist who need an explanation of MacGyver - he’s a character in an American TV show who could get out of any dire situation by monkeying something useful out of whatever junk might be lying around.)
While all of this is playing out at sea, the viewer is also treated to some subplot in San Francisco where a fictional character named Alex Rover is played by - you guessed it - Gerard Butler. As a serious movie reviewer, I have to comment on the superb acting skills of Mr. Butler, playing two different roles in this movie - the ONLY two roles in the movie, now that I think about it. I thought it was a superb feat of acting skill from Mr. Butler to use his Scots accent in all its glory for the character of Alex Rover, then tone it down for his more nuanced portrayal of Jack Rusoe. Very clever and a thoughtful gift for the grown, female moviegoers in the audience.
*takes time out for a deep sigh*
Since this is an integral part of the movie, I thought it best that my review cover how different Alex Rover appears from Jack Rusoe, even though both are played by Gerry Butler. Alex Rover has longish, messy, light brown hair and a scruffy five o’clock shadow as well as some weird-ass knee high boots. Jack is clean cut as described above. A nice contrast, but I definitely prefer Jack.
Now onto the rest of the movie. Gerry Butler as the hero Alex Rover travels to the island (with someone I think, but I can’t remember who) to rescue…well…I guess to rescue himself, since Jack is still lost at sea and Jack is played by…you know who. Interesting plot line, isn’t it? Somewhere in all of this travel we get to see snippets of Jack’s struggle out at sea which includes a shirtless dive for fish with a spear. Good God, that scene was wonderfully shot. I believe an Oscar for cinematography is in order.
And thank goodness we get our happy ending of Jack zipping back onto the island in a homemade catamaran. Gah, he has the nicest legs! A wonderful treat with which to end a wonderful movie. I give it four stars. ;)
the review
I have to admit it was very nice to get to see a family movie with my two girls that mom actually enjoyed just as much (or more if you measure enjoyment by pulse rate) as the kids did.
Beautifully shot on Hinchbrook Island, Queensland, Australia, the film concerns a widowed scientist named Jack Rusoe who is quite content living on a deserted island with various entertaining animals including a sea lion, and his precious objects of research, marine protozoa. Oh, and there’s someone else on the island, but I can’t seem to recall much about the character. Jack lost his wife, an oceanographer, years before, and explained her apparently being lost at sea with a sweet story of how a frightened whale swallowed her along with the boat. Seeing Jack’s wife engulfed by the whale was an extremely heartwarming part of the film, leaving Jack emotionally traumatized, vulnerable, and very single/available. All of the women in the audience breathed a collective sigh of relief at the conclusion of that scene and a couple even raised their fists and yelled “Yeah!” I heard it!
The story then picks up with an overview of Jack’s life on the island where he writes articles for National Geographic and studies marine protozoa. He’s built a charming house there and shares it with…darn, I can’t seem to remember…but anyway, Jack is a wonderful combination of handsome, tan, and healthy, but with a sort of professorial look from his eyeglasses. As a matter of fact, he looks disconcertingly like Will Wood! It got me thinking-Will was just on an island…Jack is on an island…Dear God, did Will play the part of Jack Rusoe? And how did he do it while the opium was still in his system? But that line of logic only sidetracked me for a minute or two. Back to the important stuff. I have to admit I was a little disappointed that Jack wore those eyeglasses in a longish, close-up scene where I could have had the opportunity to melt into those incredible eyes. When I pay 8 bucks for a matinee, I want to get my money’s worth, not a glass reflection obscuring Gerry Butler’s eyes!
Luckily his glasses got swept to sea during his hair-raising adventure on his sailboat in stormy weather, and his eyes were blissfully unencumbered for the rest of the movie.
Now then - back to the storyline. Jack takes a research sailing trip in search of more of his beloved protozoa and unfortunately gets caught in a terrible storm. Well, it’s really not that unfortunate, because he gets injured (nice cut/bruise over the left brow and a bloody hand), swept overboard repeatedly, and gets all angsty about returning home to his island and…whomever it is he’s trying to get back to. Can’t remember. Jack also gets to play MacGyver on his boat, with the help of a pelican named Gallileo. (Any Brits on my flist who need an explanation of MacGyver - he’s a character in an American TV show who could get out of any dire situation by monkeying something useful out of whatever junk might be lying around.)
While all of this is playing out at sea, the viewer is also treated to some subplot in San Francisco where a fictional character named Alex Rover is played by - you guessed it - Gerard Butler. As a serious movie reviewer, I have to comment on the superb acting skills of Mr. Butler, playing two different roles in this movie - the ONLY two roles in the movie, now that I think about it. I thought it was a superb feat of acting skill from Mr. Butler to use his Scots accent in all its glory for the character of Alex Rover, then tone it down for his more nuanced portrayal of Jack Rusoe. Very clever and a thoughtful gift for the grown, female moviegoers in the audience.
*takes time out for a deep sigh*
Since this is an integral part of the movie, I thought it best that my review cover how different Alex Rover appears from Jack Rusoe, even though both are played by Gerry Butler. Alex Rover has longish, messy, light brown hair and a scruffy five o’clock shadow as well as some weird-ass knee high boots. Jack is clean cut as described above. A nice contrast, but I definitely prefer Jack.
Now onto the rest of the movie. Gerry Butler as the hero Alex Rover travels to the island (with someone I think, but I can’t remember who) to rescue…well…I guess to rescue himself, since Jack is still lost at sea and Jack is played by…you know who. Interesting plot line, isn’t it? Somewhere in all of this travel we get to see snippets of Jack’s struggle out at sea which includes a shirtless dive for fish with a spear. Good God, that scene was wonderfully shot. I believe an Oscar for cinematography is in order.
And thank goodness we get our happy ending of Jack zipping back onto the island in a homemade catamaran. Gah, he has the nicest legs! A wonderful treat with which to end a wonderful movie. I give it four stars. ;)