Nell

I can't help but think this film might have been better if Jodie Foster had directed it as she intended. Not that Michael Apted isn't great in the character development department but something about this film just seems off and perhaps Jodie could have fixed. What that something is I can't quite put my finger on....perhaps it is Nell herself. A young woman is found living in a small home in the woods after her mother dies. The only people she has ever met were her mother and her twin sister. As the mother was a stroke victim, the twins developed this odd form of language and this is what NELL revolves around. Liam Neeson is excellent here as the doctor who attempts to understand her with Natasha Richardson as an opposing doctor who believes Nell should be put in protective care. There is of course a love story that just HAS TO develop from this plot item and that's fine but I found it detracted from the film's overall impact. Jeremy Davis also has a fine part as a local yocal which is a treat to watch. Still, as fine as the direction and the performances are (Foster took an Oscar nod for her work) something seems wrong...as if we are made to feel intruders inNell's world. Perhaps this was intentional but part of me thinks not. Still, worth one viewing at least.