Nim’s Island (U) ***

3:07pm Friday 2nd May 2008

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IF any more proof were needed that 12-year-old Abigail Breslin, Oscar-nominated star of Little Miss Sunshine, is destined for superstardom, look no further than Nim's Island.

The diminutive actress takes top billing for this island adventure above two-time Academy Award winner Jodie Foster and action man Gerard Butler (300, PS I Love You).

Breslin fully merits the honour - she is absolutely luminous as a plucky tyke stranded on her tropical home while her father is lost at sea.

She doesn't strike any false emotional notes and finds a pleasing balance between gentle humour and the inevitable tears as solitude weighs heavily on her character's young shoulders.

Foster makes her first foray into broad comedy since the disastrous Maverick and is hilarious.

The tantalising prospect of uniting two generations of Hollywood's finest on screen sustains our interest for a surprisingly eventful 95 minutes.

Nim (Breslin) lives on a lush South Pacific island with her scientist father Jack, who studies plankton while the youngster amuses herself with her animal pals: Selkie the sea lion, Galileo the pelican and Fred the bearded dragon.

When Jack is lost at sea, Nim sends an urgent email SOS to the writer of her favourite adventure books.

Vital lessons about courage are a little heavy-handed and some of the soul-searching is a tad cloying but younger audiences, especially, should lap up Nim's gung-ho exploits.

• See it at Empire, ABC