Nancy Drew
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Movie Reviews of Nancy Drew
Movie Review: dvd
Summary: 5 Stars
a great clean movie for young girls and family too. The movie was bought used and in great condition. Just like newMovie Review: Nancy Drew Movie
Summary: 5 Stars
Movie was delivered very quickly and in excellent condition. I would buy from this seller again.Movie Review: "It really gets my goat when someone tries to kill me. It's so rude! But it only makes me want to try harder."
Summary: 4 Stars
Man, I am just wondering how many Man points I lose by admitting that I actually used to read Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden mysteries when I was a kid, these being an offshoot of reading pretty much all the Hardy Boys and the Three Investigators books. But a bit of back history: Nancy Drew's been around for over 75 years, having debuted way back in 1930 in THE SECRET OF THE OLD CLOCK by "Carolyn Keene" (actually a pseudonym for a gang of writers). This isn't the first time that Nancy's been on the big screen. The late '30s had actress Bonita Granville starring in four Nancy Drew flicks. Then, of course, in the late '70s, Pamela Sue Martin played her on television, and it sort of blew my mind when her Nancy Drew got to hung out with the Hardy Boys (The Hardy Boys Nancy Drew Mysteries: Season Two). I think there was another film a few years ago, as well as a very short lived TV series in the '90s (Nancy Drew (1995) - The Complete First Season (Boxset)), but I haven't seen either of those.
Okay, about this movie: Nancy Drew isn't like most girls. She lives in the tiny, squeaky-clean Midwestern town of River Heights, where it seems like the 1950s have hung around. Nancy's inquisitive nature has made her into the town sleuth and she's surprisingly well regarded by the River Heights authorities, whose thunder she habitually steals. But her world is upended when she and her lawyer dad relocate temporarily to Los Angeles. Nancy happens to be clever, super polite, uber-organized, and she sports retro sensibilities ("I like old-fashioned things," she declares). It's only naturally that she has a hard time fitting in the big metropolis and into her new school in L.A.
After her last escapade, Nancy's concerned dad had wrung a promise from her to stop sleuthing. But, c'mon, now. Charged with picking out their place of residence in L.A., is it really a surprise that Nancy sets her eyes on a mansion oozing with mystery? Things start out simply enough as Nancy explores the past (and shocking demise) of the mansion's former inhabitant, a once famous film actress. But if you know your Nancy Drew, then you figure it's only a matter of time before she gets deep into doodoo. Nancy Drew plus skullduggery plus attempts on our heroine's life? That's just par for the course, brother.
The mystery's okay (revolving around a long missing will), but, for me, the fun stuff crops up whenever we see Nancy's prim & proper, small town sensibilities juxtaposed against L.A.'s big heap of attitude, hipness, and blasé. An example: In the course of her investigations, Nancy ends up on a movie set where, because of her wardrobe, she gets mistaken for an extra in a '50s film (which, by the way, is when we see Bruce Willis's cameo as himself). Then there's what happens when her "friends" take her to a high-fashioned clothing store for a makeover...
I dig that Nancy's well-mannered and so unflappable, even when the kids at her new school prank her or when she discovers that the big time L.A. cops, unlike the local constabulary back home, aren't about to be at her beck and call (she reports to LAPD that her moccasin slippers were stolen and gets laughed at for her trouble). But I also dig that Emma Roberts is a good enough actress that you sense her character's vulnerability. This film relocates Nancy Drew to today's contemporary climate, which means that the cool L.A. kids get to scope out Nancy in her retro clothes and penny loafers. They note her over-achieving ways and her fastidiousness. And they consign her to freak status. Initially, only an annoying chubby 12-year-old kid would hang out with her. Of course Nancy wins the kids over, but it helps that her cute hometown non-boyfriend, Ned Nickerson, stops by for a visit and, also, that she's handy with the tracheotomy.
Much like Amy Adams in Enchanted (Widescreen Edition), Emma Roberts makes the film work by playing it straight, without a trace of irony or a wink at the audience. And, so, I bought into her admittedly eccentric character. I think it's a tricky role to pull off, because, for one thing, Nancy Drew doesn't have much of a sense of humor, so she can't endear herself by cracking jokes. Also she does have a bit of that junior Martha Stewart vibe going, which could've turned off some folks. Instead, she becomes endearing by virtue of her falling into fish-out-of-water predicaments, by her pluck and resourcefulness and kindness, and by the fact that the charming Emma Roberts invests her role with warmth and sincerity. Also, her Nash Rambler convertible is awfully keen.
So is this the same Nancy Drew I grew up reading about? No, not really. Nancy Drew's sensibilities are intact, but, as placed in this modern setting, there's a certain disconnect and a decided tongue-in-cheek element about her. So while Emma Roberts plays her part strictly straight, the film itself nudges us in the ribs. I didn't mind at all.
Movie Review: A Great Movie Translation of the Books
Summary: 4 Stars
Nancy Drew (Emma Roberts) is the best detective in Riverheights. There is no case she can't solve. And, thanks to her detective kit, she's ready for anything.
Her dad, lawyer Carson (Tate Donovan), has a temporary assignment in Los Angeles, and the teenager gets to go along. In fact, Carson let her pick out the house they are renting. Naturally, Nancy picked one with a mystery. Seems 25 years ago, actress Dehlia Draycott disappeared for five months. Then, just a few days after she came back, she was found dead in her pool. Her murder was never solved.
Unfortunately, just before the trip, Carson makes Nancy promise to stop sleuthing. And Nancy really does try to live up to her word. But when she begins stumbling on clues to what happened in the past, she just can't stop thinking about them. Where will the trail lead? Will Nancy solve the old crime? Or will she keep her word to her father and work toward becoming a normal teen?
Warning: The following paragraph was written by an obsessive book person. Let's start by getting some stuff of my chest. Why were Bess and George reduced to cameos? They are an important part of the books. The fact that Nancy's housekeeper Hannah only had a cameo didn't bother me too much since she often got little more then that in the books. At least Ned (Max Thieriot) got a bit more of a role, showing up on Los Angeles for a while. And, I did enjoy seeing Nancy's car (a roadster). I just wish they had included those other characters more.
Okay, now we can review this movie as it is.
And it's a surprisingly decent movie. The mystery is well done with plenty of clues being dropped along the way. I figured a couple things out before Nancy, but only a few minutes before. The plot and danger was perfectly in keeping with the things Nancy faced in the books, so fans of the series will know what to expect.
The movie did provide plenty of laughs along with the danger. Nancy views the world differently then everyone else, and many of the laughs are at this culture clash. In fact, my only real complaint is the uneven tone they use with Nancy. Most of the time, the movie sets her up as someone to look up to. Occasionally, her character is the butt of the joke, however. That unevenness was weird for me. Granted, her character is ripe for parodying; I just wish the movie could have decided whether it was going to mock or praise her.
There's also a plot point that bothers me. Just how long were Nancy and Carson in Los Angeles? It seemed like only three weeks or so, yet Nancy was enrolled in school. It seemed like more trouble then it was worth. But that's a minor point
Not surprisingly, this movie aims at pre-teen girls, the usual reader of the books. With a bit of light romance with Ned (they're just friends at the beginning) and some fun with fashion, I think they will love it.
Yes, I have some quibbles, but the movie is basically good. The target audience will love it, and the rest of the family will find it diverting.
Movie Review: Adults who didn't like it - come on! it 's a KID's MOVIE, for goodness sake.
Summary: 4 Stars
I thought the producers, et al, did a fairly good job of modernizing Nancy Drew without totally changing the original character of the 1930s-1950s. I know; I've read the original 56 books and am a collector. My complaint is I'd wished for a more serious Nancy Drew movie, not the light comedy similar to the 1930s original movies. However, I can imagine the difficulty of creating a totally serious movie of a book character that wasn't known for realism.
The popularity of Nancy Drew has always been based on to the fact that Nancy Drew was different from other girls her age: she had the freedom that all teens craved, had plenty of money to do whatever she wanted to do, and a doting father that pretty much let her do whatever she wanted to do, because she was always very responsible and level-headed. The books were popular to parents because the character was squeaky-clean and a do-gooder with brains.
For those adults and guys who went to see it and didn't like it, what in the world were you expecting, anyway? :)
As an adult who took my daughter (a Drew fan) and her girlfriend to see it (The girlfriend never read Nancy Drew), I can report that these two from the movie's target age-group loved it.
I felt the beginning of the movie was, as a friend of mine put it--sloppy, but after the first, say, 20 minutes, the movie picked up and turned out okay. Thus, 4 stars.