I wanted to score this one higher. I waited to write this review in the hopes that my mind would find something delightful to write about it in the interim. Unfortunately, Alex Rover's character is just too reminiscent of Kathleen Turner's Joan Wilder from "Romancing the Stone," to feel creative. These characters are too close, actually, right down to the imaginary hero, not wanting to travel, and turning out to be up to the adventure, after all. They are both novelists, both live alone (aside from their imaginary heroes), both go to save someone, and both end up being saved themselves, which leads us to the plot...
A young girl, Nim, is left alone by her father, on a remote tropical island in Monsoon season (?!). The left "Home Alone" thing has been overdone to the point of cliché, and if this man were raising his daughter anywhere in the US, he would have already lost custody. Her misadventures are minor and uninteresting, though the actress herself (young Abigail Breslin) is a delight. I expect great things from her in the future.
Jodie Foster (Alexandra Rover) is as good as ever, too bad she gave so much of herself to this part...the screenplay really was not worthy of her performance and the character, even with her more-than-worthy contribution, was rehashed.
There are some good elements, and if you haven't seen Home Alone 1, 2, and 3 or Romancing the Stone, you may enjoy it and find it entertaining enough to own. However, if you're like most of us, this is going to remind you of one too many other movies, and you'll walk out yawning from boredom.
What should have been magical, was mediocre...a real pity.
It rates a 5.7/10 from...
the Fiend :.
A young girl, Nim, is left alone by her father, on a remote tropical island in Monsoon season (?!). The left "Home Alone" thing has been overdone to the point of cliché, and if this man were raising his daughter anywhere in the US, he would have already lost custody. Her misadventures are minor and uninteresting, though the actress herself (young Abigail Breslin) is a delight. I expect great things from her in the future.
Jodie Foster (Alexandra Rover) is as good as ever, too bad she gave so much of herself to this part...the screenplay really was not worthy of her performance and the character, even with her more-than-worthy contribution, was rehashed.
There are some good elements, and if you haven't seen Home Alone 1, 2, and 3 or Romancing the Stone, you may enjoy it and find it entertaining enough to own. However, if you're like most of us, this is going to remind you of one too many other movies, and you'll walk out yawning from boredom.
What should have been magical, was mediocre...a real pity.
It rates a 5.7/10 from...
the Fiend :.