Nim’s Island

Abigail Breslin plays a girl who lives on a remote Pacific island with her scientist father (Gerard Butler) and several almost-talking animals; when Dad is feared lost at sea, she seeks help via e-mail from a famous adventurer (also Butler), unaware that he’s the fictitious creation of a writer (Jodie Foster) who is terrified to come out of her comfy San Francisco home. It’s nice to see Foster deploying her little-used flair for comedy (the only other time was Maverick 14 years ago); Butler’s dual role gives him a nifty tour de force, and Breslin is as charming and likeable as ever. But perhaps the script had too many hands working at cross purposes (Joseph Kwong, Paula Mazur and directors Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett, from Wendy Orr’s novel), because the promised adventure never quite materializes.