Busy, busy, busy!

For a tropical paradise out in the middle of nowhere, the isolated patch that is "Nim's Island" sees a lot of improbable action: In just the span of a few days, it's hit with a monsoon, a volcanic eruption, an attack of flying iguanas and, most terrifying of all, an invading horde of pasty, overweight tourists.

The plucky heroine at the center of it all is an 11-year-old girl named Nim (Abigail Breslin), who, since her mother died at sea, has lived in survivalist-chic, grass-roots luxury with her scientist father, Jack (Gerard Butler), and her pet sea lion, marine iguana and pelican. When Jack goes plankton hunting for a few days and leaves Nim behind, mayhem (both natural and man-made) breaks loose. As luck would have it, her favorite author, the world explorer Alex Rover, e-mails her dad for research information, resulting in the world-famous writer making a trip to Fiji to come to Nim's aid.

Based on the young people's novel of the same name, "Nim's Island" seems cobbled together from several classic tales, including "Robinson Crusoe," "The Swiss Family Robinson" and "Pippi Longstocking," with a little "Romancing the Stone" thrown in for grown-ups. (This is where Jodie Foster comes in, and she gamely hits her mark in a role that calls for goofy, slapstick physical humor as well as deeper psychological shadings.)

Even as the derivative roots of "Nim's Island" are clearly visible, kids will no doubt vicariously enjoy Nim's adventures and Edenic existence. And how refreshing, for once, to see a girl embark on derring-do that, in Nim's own words, makes her the hero of her own story.

-- Ann Hornaday (April 4, 2008)

Contains mild adventure action and brief mild profanity.