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Nell

Play trailer Poster for Nell PG-13 Released Dec 23, 1994 1h 53m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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57% Tomatometer 35 Reviews 64% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
Cut off from the modern world, Nell (Jodie Foster) is a wild child, who has lived her entire life with her mother in an isolated mountain cabin in North Carolina. When her mother dies, she is found by kindly Dr. Jerome Lovell (Liam Neeson), who is fascinated by Nell and the language she has developed. Lovell and the equally curious psychologist Dr. Paula Olsen (Natasha Richardson) eventually camp out near Nell's cabin, slowly introducing her to the larger world she's never known.
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Nell

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Critics Consensus

Despite a committed performance by Jodie Foster, Nell opts for ponderous melodrama instead of engaging with the ethical dilemmas of socializing its titular wild child.

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Critics Reviews

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Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly Rated: B- Sep 7, 2011 Full Review Nell Minow Movie Mom Rated: 2/5 Jan 14, 2005 Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Nell is an effective film, and a moving one. That is largely because of the strange beauty of Jodie Foster's performance as Nell, and the warmth of the performance by Liam Neeson, as a doctor who finds himself somehow responsible for her. Rated: 3/4 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Quentin Crisp Christopher Street The film Nell featured Miss Foster, and was a tour de force (whatever that may mean). Apr 21, 2022 Full Review Mal Vincent The Virginian-Pilot Jodie Foster's performance is much better than the movie, but Nell is still one of those movies you should see. Rated: 3.5/4 Mar 1, 2022 Full Review Malcolm Johnson Hartford Courant All of this proves somewhat uplifting and, in the end, fairly moving. Under Apted's caring direction, Foster gives a fearless, appealing, utterly uninhibited performance throughout. May 22, 2018 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Glen B The actors all put in a good job Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 04/20/24 Full Review Audience Member So many tremendous qualities in a film that has a fairly mediocre script. The premise is particularly pretty fascinating and I'm shocked to see how ho-hum the story continues to be well into the second act. Shot in the Fontana Dam region near the Tennessee/North Carolina border the exterior scenes are striking. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review ronald h Looking back on this movie 28 years after its release, it seems like more of a curiosity than anything else. Jodie Foster's performance is just downright strange. It's overacting taken to the max----but then, I guess that's what the part requires. Liam Neeson and Natasha Richardson are believable in their roles. Even their fake southern accents are pretty good. The biggest problem here is plausibility. Jodie Foster is supposed to be a "wild child" who has lived her whole life in a remote cabin in the woods, with no human contact other than her late mother and sister. Yet she has perfect Hollywood teeth. The scene in which she goes into a pool hall and shows her breasts is also ridiculous. She's supposed to be terrified of people. This is one of those films in which you're constantly asking questions about the unlikely scenarios, but the filmmaker wants you to just accept what you're seeing. If you can do that, it's watchable. The premise is certainly interesting. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Effective, but do feel like that it left some unanswered questions... Jodie Foster, as always; is mesmerising! Not necessarily a must-see, but it's touching! Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review J. D So astonishingly vapid and bad it will leave you breathless with laughter. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 09/02/21 Full Review Audience Member The central flaw of the movie—which undercuts Foster's bravura performance and exemplifies the ham-fisted, shallow approach of the screenplay—is that Nell would have been raised by and would have mirrored herself after her aphasic mother for nearly 30 years, so any pretense towards her being a feral tabula rasa is unfounded. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Cast & Crew

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Michael Apted

Director

Jodie Foster

Nell

Liam Neeson

Jerome Lovell

Natasha Richardson

Paula Olsen

Nick Searcy

Todd Peterson

Robin Mullins

Mary Peterson

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Nell

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Movie Info

Synopsis Cut off from the modern world, Nell (Jodie Foster) is a wild child, who has lived her entire life with her mother in an isolated mountain cabin in North Carolina. When her mother dies, she is found by kindly Dr. Jerome Lovell (Liam Neeson), who is fascinated by Nell and the language she has developed. Lovell and the equally curious psychologist Dr. Paula Olsen (Natasha Richardson) eventually camp out near Nell's cabin, slowly introducing her to the larger world she's never known.
Director
Michael Apted
Producer
Renee Missel, Jodie Foster
Screenwriter
William Nicholson, Mark Handley
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Production Co
Egg Pictures, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 23, 1994, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA)
$31.7M
Runtime
1h 53m
Sound Mix
Surround, Stereo
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