Like all movies, buying the premise is key to getting something out of it at all. Reading comments on this film it seems like a lot of people didn't buy the premise, or maybe not so much the premise as the tone of it. To me the premise and tone are somewhat on the cutesy side but for a children's movie I much prefer this than the bombastic tone of for example Narnia. There is lots of quirky humour which when it is at it's best reminds me of the excellent type of humour that is the trademark of Pixar. For me the movie would have been even better if they had put more humour in it and less drama, for the drama is quite predictable and thus doesn't really grip you anyway.
Although I liked the premise and the plot (yes predictable it was but that didn't bother me at all, you don't see this type of movie to be surprised) they were only average. What really sold this movie for me was the acting performances, or when I think about it mainly one performance, Jodie Fosters. Although Jodie has been in a number of good movies, to me she often comes off as quite blank as an actor, except if we go way back in the years to her first Oscar and maybe a few other performances. So in her first couple of scenes I was worried, can she really pull this character off? This is a character that is really hard to play unless you are a natural comedy actor. It is very easy to overplay it and yet if you don't reach for it a bit it really falls flat. But Foster pulls through and delivers a character that is both believable and funny. Only times she struggles a bit is in the scenes with much physical comedy like the tug-of-war with her imaginary namesake.
Abigail Breslin is as cute as ever but has a tough spot as she for the most part has to act against semi-computer-generated animals or is talking to herself. Not her best performance but a believable character at least. Gerard Butler is solid but doesn't get that much material to work with. The adventurer role is a sometimes funny sidekick to Jodies character but comes and goes a bit much to make a lasting impression and the father role has the same talking- to-oneself-problem as Breslin's, only even less screen-time . The very limited joint screen- time for the main character's is overall a problem for the movie.
Overall I had a fun time and have no problem recommending this movie to others.
Although I liked the premise and the plot (yes predictable it was but that didn't bother me at all, you don't see this type of movie to be surprised) they were only average. What really sold this movie for me was the acting performances, or when I think about it mainly one performance, Jodie Fosters. Although Jodie has been in a number of good movies, to me she often comes off as quite blank as an actor, except if we go way back in the years to her first Oscar and maybe a few other performances. So in her first couple of scenes I was worried, can she really pull this character off? This is a character that is really hard to play unless you are a natural comedy actor. It is very easy to overplay it and yet if you don't reach for it a bit it really falls flat. But Foster pulls through and delivers a character that is both believable and funny. Only times she struggles a bit is in the scenes with much physical comedy like the tug-of-war with her imaginary namesake.
Abigail Breslin is as cute as ever but has a tough spot as she for the most part has to act against semi-computer-generated animals or is talking to herself. Not her best performance but a believable character at least. Gerard Butler is solid but doesn't get that much material to work with. The adventurer role is a sometimes funny sidekick to Jodies character but comes and goes a bit much to make a lasting impression and the father role has the same talking- to-oneself-problem as Breslin's, only even less screen-time . The very limited joint screen- time for the main character's is overall a problem for the movie.
Overall I had a fun time and have no problem recommending this movie to others.