The Last Mimzy

Production year: 2007

Fantasy/Adventure PG   Running time: 1:37 

IMDB rating:   6.3     Aspect: Wide;  Languages: English;  Subtitles: None;  Audio: DD 5.1

Comparisons with E.T. are inevitable, but the more modest The Last Mimzy is based on the classic short story "Mimzy Were the Borogoves," by Lewis Padgett (a pseudonym for husband-and-wife writing team Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore), that anticipated Steven Spielberg's extraterrestrial fantasy by nearly four decades. Chris O'Neil and Rhiannon Leigh Wryn give winning, naturalistic performances as siblings Noah and Emma, whose lives are transformed by a box of mysterious objects they find on the beach outside the family's Seattle vacation home. Among its contents is a stuffed rabbit that Emma names Mimzy and becomes quite attached. Noah and Emma are your typical outsiders. He is not good at sports, and she is interested in astronomy and plays the violin. But the objects work wonders on them. Their brainpower increases exponentially, Noah is able to drive a golf ball hundreds of yards, and Emma begins to communicate telepathically with Mimzy, who reveals his true identity and purpose. Rainn Wilson of The Office displays an off-center charm as Mr. White, Noah's New Age-y science teacher, who discovers similarities between Noah's intricate notebook doodlings and ancient renderings of the universe ("This is so out of my league," he marvels at one point), and becomes involved in Mimzy's back-to-the-future quest. Timothy Hutton and Joely Richardson are solid as the understandably confounded and increasingly concerned parents. Michael Clarke Duncan is a menacing FBI agent who, invoking the Patriot Act, arrests the family after Noah inadvertently causes a citywide blackout with one of the futuristic objects.

Director

Features

Audio commentary
Deleted/extended scenes
Featurettes/Behind-The-Scenes/Documentaries

Special features

Featurettes That Take You into the Science of The Last Mimzy
11 Deleted Scenes
Commentary by Director Bob Shaye
Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes (Adapting the Story, Bob Shaye: Director Profile, Casting the Kids, Production Design & Concept Art, Real Is Good: The Visual Effects, Editing & Music)
Roger Waters' "Hello (I Love You)" Music Video
The Last Mimzy