A young girl calls on her hero to rescue her father; a farmer turns dirt into organic gold; and celebrities give voice to a Dr. Seuss classic.
> Nim's Island
Director: Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett
Starring: Abigail Breslin, Jodie Foster, Gerard Butler
Rating: (PG)
4 stars (out of 5)
Review by Christine Powley
A good child actor is a rare and precious thing, as they last only for a limited time. This short life means that when you get a bankable child star you work them into the ground until they are taller than their co-stars.
A few years ago Dakota Fanning was the It girl - now that mantle has passed to Abigail Breslin.
Breslin has been nominated for an Oscar but she is a less versatile actor than Fanning. Breslin smiles a lot and makes her eyes go big, whereas with Fanning you could see a person thinking.
But you can not fight the ageing process. Fanning at 14 is now too old for the roles that Breslin is hoovering up.
Breslin plays the title role in Nim's Island (Rialto and Hoyts). Nim lives with her father Jack (Gerard Butler), a marine biologist, on an uncharted island in the South Pacific. Her best friends are a sea lion, Selkie, and a lizard called Fred.
She also loves reading the adventures of Alex Rover, an Indiana Jones-type character played by Butler.
The Alex Rover adventures are in fact written by Alexandra Rover (Jodie Foster), who does her research online and has not left her house in years.
Nim and Alex's worlds collide when Jack is caught in a storm while collecting samples at sea and can not easily make it back home. Nim appeals to her favourite adventurer for help and Alex leaves the house and comes to help.
From the first, Nim's Island is relentlessly adorable. It never misses an opportunity to charm. This could become annoying except that the three main actors all know exactly just how far to push it.
In a dual role, Butler once again shines. He even sparks some chemistry with the normally flinty Foster. This man should be a megastar.
Foster has fun sending up her default role of the woman you do not want to back into a corner and Breslin gets to smile and show off her big eyes. In all, this is fun for everybody.
> The Real Dirt on Farmer John
Director: Taggart Siegel
Starring: John Peterson, Anna Nielsen, John Edwards, Lester Peterson
Rating: (M)
Review by Mark Orton
4 stars (out of 5)
This tale of the transformation of a reluctant farmer to organic king resonates in the current environmental climate. Given a limited theatrical release in 2005, The Real Dirt on Farmer John (Metro) has grown in stature as word of its content spread.
Helped in no small part by some kind words from Al Gore, this quirky documentary succeeds because the film-makers understand just how to twist and tweak moments of personal crisis to maximum effect.
The Real Dirt on Farmer John is based on the renaissance of the Peterson family farm in rural Illinois.
Inheriting the farm that his parents had slaved over since the '40s, John Peterson struggles to commit to the land. From the opening sequences that have John filling his mouth with soil and cavorting with a colourful feather-boa, we understand that he ain't no dungaree-clad hillbilly.
But these are mere comic factors cued for the cheap laughs. Serious issues are disguised in this way to hook agriculture-ignorant townies.
If John had landed in the Midwest from New York, then the plot would have been relatively predictable. The fact that he is ‘‘one of them'' facilitates a tension that exists throughout the film.
From a '60s free-art-explosion on the farm to the dire farm debt crisis of the 1980s, the film is a rollercoaster of personal emotions.
Director Taggart Siegel has been blessed with a truck-load of excellent home-film footage that cuts superbly with the overwhelming sense of a generation lost. The disenfranchised relationship that contemporary society has with their food source is both topical and poignant when told in this fashion.
Visually, The Real Dirt on Farmer John is compelling to watch. Large beautiful tracts of land are juxtaposed with the static images of soulless concrete dwellings. As the rich soil is enveloped by developers, John Peterson undergoes an awakening of sorts, a eureka moment that will transform his farm.
The Real Dirt on Farmer John works on a whole lot of levels, not least because we like to fight for the underdog.
Encapsulating the trend towards farmers markets and organic food, John Peterson's struggle with suspicious neighbours, local authorities and homophobic farm lobbyists is a great yarn.
> Horton Hears A Who
Director: Jimmy Hayward, Steve Martino
Satrring: Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Carol Burnett, Seth Rogen, Will Arnett, Isla Fisher, Dan Fogler, Amy Poehler, Dane Cook, Jaime Pressly, Jonah Hill
Rating: (G)
4 stars (out of 5)
Review by Kalem Blackley
After all, a person is a person, no matter how small.
It's lucky that Horton the elephant has big ears, as he's able to hear a quiet cry for help coming from a speck of dust floating through the air - from the incredible mini-world of ‘‘Whoville''.
The ‘‘Whos'' are in trouble and Horton makes it his mission to get the tiny world to a safe place.
His friends think he's gone crazy, don't believe him and try to stop him but ‘‘an elephant's faithful 100%'' and Horton sets out to save the day.
This movie has heaps of laughs and I think everyone in the family will like it. The animation is fantastic and the voices cool, especially Jim Carrey's.
The closing scene makes you think about our place in the universe.
I would have liked a bit more music though.
