Movies aimed at preteen boys are a dime a dozen – young girls, unfortunately, generally aren’t so lucky. And on the rare occasion Hollywood does decide to throw teen girls a bone, they’re spoon-fed skeletal garbage like the dreadful Nancy Drew or a doomed vehicle for Hilary Duff. Asking Kirsten Dunst to sharpen an edge for Mary Jane Watson in Spider-Man movies doesn’t count.

Nim’s Island tries to rectify this dire situation, and gets off to a strong start before abandoning its imaginative premise for madcap antics. Nim (Abigail Breslin) is the intelligent, inquisitive, and independent daughter of marine biologist Jack Rusoe (Gerard Butler, versatile in multiple roles). The two live peacefully on an isolated island in the South Pacific. Jack searches for undiscovered single-cell organisms while Nim embarks on adventures with her best friends, Silky the sea lion and Galileo the pelican. Once a week, a supply ship brings food, tools, and the latest novel from best-selling author Alex Rover (Jodie Foster).

Nim’s self-confidence is admirable, and her message deserves to be spread: “With a little imagination, I can go anywhere,” she tells doting dad. When plot contrivances allow Nim and Alex to communicate via email, Nim’s Island conveys welcome impressions about finding courage in life’s difficult choices. For Nim, it might mean venturing to the mouth of a dormant volcano. For Alex, an agoraphobic, it might mean trekking to the mailbox to pick up the day’s post (though an agoraphobic having a detached mailbox in the first place is kind of silly).

Somewhere along the way, however, co-directors Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett lose their own courage and allow the film to devolve into a slapdash version of Home Alone on holiday. Breslin and her animal mates use farting sea lions and flying lizards to defend the island from boorish Australian tourists. The delusional Alex braves every method of transportation to reach Nim’s island so she can help, and Jack receives unlikely assistance to return home from an unsuccessful sea trip. What begins as a worthy voyage sadly drifts way off course, leaving teenage females stranded once again.

Sean O’Connell