Silly? Yes. Predictable? Yes. For Kids? Yes. Entertaining? Yes.....even for adults, IF you don't take anything seriously and expect something a little dumb but charming.nonetheless. Picture yourself as a kid watching a movie and you'll enjoy it a lot more, because it's definitely a children's film. It also has an involving story. Once it starts you have to stick around and see how it winds up. With some movies, I could care less but this one, I cared.
For those who have kids age 5-12, this is highly recommended. For adults, well, it's not bad. If you're looking for "clean" entertainment, you found it. It's not goody-goody, either, and it's not always a smart family movie (a father leaving his kid all alone for several days?) but it's a nice movie, has funny animal characters, a lead kid who is not a brat, nice island scenery, one big-name actress (Jodie Foster) and is a diversion for an hour-and-a-half.
The little dragon "Fred" is the best of the non-humans. I don't know if that's the real noise that lizard makes, but it's fun to hear. Seals are always entertaining, too. The one in this film is very talented.
As for the humans, Abigail Breslin as "Nim Rusoe" is a cute, likable kid. Gerard Butler plays both male leads and does them well enough that you forget he's doing two characters. Seeing Foster do slapstick while being a female "Mr. Monk" was a little odd but, I'm not going to knock her for trying.
As another reviewer said here, put yourself in a little kid's shoes and enjoy the film.
