The Last Mimzy
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| The Last Mimzy | |
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 US Promotional poster for The Last Mimzy |
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| Directed by | Bob Shaye |
| Produced by | Michael Phillips |
| Written by | Short Story: Henry Kuttner C.L. Moore Screenplay: Bruce Joel Rubin Toby Emmerich James V. Hart Carol Skilken |
| Starring | Rhiannon Leigh Wryn Chris O'Neil Rainn Wilson Joely Richardson Timothy Hutton Michael Clarke Duncan Megan McKinnon Marc Musso |
| Music by | Howard Shore |
| Cinematography | J. Michael Muro |
| Editing by | Alan Heim |
| Distributed by |  New Line Cinema |
| Release date(s) | March 23, 2007 March 23, 2007 March 30, 2007 August 9, 2007 |
| Running time | 90 min. |
| Language | English |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Last Mimzy is a 2007 science fiction family film directed by Bob Shaye. Based on the short story "Mimsy were the Borogoves" by Lewis Padgett, it stars Timothy Hutton and Joely Richardson as parents of children who develop super-intelligence and preternatural powers after playing with toys discovered on a beach.
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[edit] Synopsis
Adapted from the acclaimed 1943 science fiction short story by Lewis Padgett (the pseudonym of husband and wife team Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore), The Last Mimzy tells the story of two children, Noah and Emma, who discover a mysterious box containing strange devices which they presume to be toys: geode "spinners" that produce an atomizing field, later revealed to be a means of teleportation, and an organic, creature-like object that is later combined with the last toy, a green crystal quadrilateral that reveals geometric equivalents of ley lines, by which psychokinesis is possible. As the children play with these “toys,” they begin to display higher and higher levels of intelligence, as well as the abilities of telepathy, psychokinesis, and communication with arthropods via certain frequencies of sound.
Noah's science teacher, Larry White, tells their parents that they seem to have surpassed genius level. Their parents, too, realize something extraordinary is happening. Emma, the younger of the two, reveals that one of the toys, a stuffed toy rabbit, is named Mimzy and that “she teaches me things.”
As Emma’s parents becomes increasingly frightened, the Federal Bureau of Investigation traces a power surge, which had caused a large blackout, to Emma's home. The family are captured and held. Mimzy is analyzed.
Emma reveals that Mimzy has brought a message from humanity's future, wherein pollution has nearly destroyed the world. To counteract the pollution, which is suggested to be psychic as well as physical, many such rabbits as Mimzy were sent to the past to gather incorrupt DNA. Mimzy is the last of her kind, and the only one remaining. It is also revealed that Mimzy is itself made from semi-organic, futuristic nanotechnology.
The children must use the "toys" to return Mimzy to the future, where a scientist will use the DNA to stop the pollutants from causing mass destruction in Mimzy's time of origin. When this is done, humans become more integrated into the natural world, gaining love, wisdom, stronger psi, and a strong sense of community. Emma, whose tear carried the DNA via Mimzy, is viewed by schoolteachers of the future as the "mother" of all the present generations.
[edit] Cast
- Timothy Hutton as David Wilder
- Joely Richardson as Jo Wilder
- Chris O'Neil as Noah Wilder
- Rhiannon Leigh Wryn as Emma Wilder
- Rainn Wilson as Larry White
- Kathryn Hahn as Naomi Schwartz
- Michael Clarke Duncan as Nathaniel Broadman
- Kirsten Williamson as Sheila Broadman
- Marc Musso as Harry Jones
- Megan McKinnon as Wendy
The Last Mimzy features an ensemble cast that includes Timothy Hutton, Joely Richardson, Rainn Wilson, Michael Clarke Duncan (The Green Mile), Patrick Gilmore, and newcomers Rhiannon Leigh Wryn and Chris O’Neil as the children, Emma and Noah. World-renowned string theorist, Brian Greene has a cameo appearance as the Intel technician in the movie.
[edit] Development and production
The Last Mimzy was produced by Michael Phillips and directed by Bob Shaye. The film's and short story's titles are taken from third line of the nonsense verse poem Jabberwocky in Lewis Carroll's novel Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. The adapted screenplay is by Bruce Joel Rubin (Ghost, Deep Impact) and Toby Emmerich (Frequency). The film’s production team also included composer Howard Shore (The Lord of the Rings trilogy), editor Alan Heim (All That Jazz, The Notebook), and sound designer Dane Davis (The Matrix).
The soundtrack for the film was composed by Howard Shore, the award winning composer behind The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Ex-Pink Floyd member Roger Waters also collaborated on a song called "Hello (I Love You)". "I think together we've come up with a song that captures the themes of the movie - the clash between humanity's best and worst instincts, and how a child's innocence can win the day," Roger Waters commented.[1]
Visual effects were created by The Orphanage, and location filming was done in Vancouver, BC and Collingwood School.
[edit] Differences between the film and the short story
There are a number of substantial differences between the film and the story it's based upon. Most notably, the short story takes place in two different time periods simultaneously, the far future and the "present day" of the 1940s (with a very brief segment in the nineteenth century). In the film, the main story takes place in the early 21st century, with framing scenes and a few brief visions in the far future. Also, there is no ecological component to the short story, whereas much of the film's plot revolves around ecology. Lewis Carroll is a character in the nineteenth century portion of the short story. He is wholly absent from the film.
