Nancy Drew y El Misterio de Hollywood

As a grownup in my mid-40s, I am not even close to any of "Nancy Drew"'s key demographics, but I was pleasantly surprised by the film this afternoon; so, I could tell, were the pair of sixtyish silver-haired ladies down the row from me. The older man who left the theater just ahead of me specifically praised the film to the 20-ish female usher (who said she'd seen the film the previous evening and quite liked it).

More to the point, however: In the row just ahead of me, there were nine -- count them, nine -- ten-year-old girls lined up next to each other, passing popcorn and hot dogs and candy back and forth and giggling through the previews.

Once the film began, they promptly settled down to watch....

....and didn't so much as peep till the closing credits began to roll.

This is not a perfect film; it doesn't quite pay off its high school subplots, it's not quite confident enough of its own tone, and its thugs are just a hair too far over toward critically inept at times. But the adaptation of the source material is essentially respectful, the plot hangs together fairly well, and it treads deftly between the sins of excessive cheesiness and excessive modernization. Last but not least, Emma Roberts carries the movie with startling grace -- Josh Flitter's superb timing notwithstanding, this is Roberts' movie, and she pulls it off beautifully. Her Nancy Drew is very much the direct ancestor of Kristen Bell's Veronica Mars, and the film is also a lineal descendant of Jodie Foster's early and underrated "Candleshoe".

In today's marketplace, it's a rarity: a family movie that respects its viewers' intelligence. As such, it won't be to everyone's taste -- but for what it is, it is the best movie of its kind in decades.

I'm a 16 year old teenager who took my 10 year old sister to Nancy Drew this morning. She's been bored sitting around the house all summer, so my mom suggested I go with her to see the first showing. I took her, not expecting much, thinking I could just sit back and not care what was going on. I've never read the Nancy Drew books, but my younger sister has and plays the computer games. She absolutely LOVED it, and I was surprised with myself when I found that I was paying attention, enjoying the movie.

The plot is a bit weak, but functional. The characters are fun to watch, especially the Californians. I thought some of her methods were a bit far-fetched (I found myself thinking-- What teenage girl carries that around with her 24/7?), but then again, it is a creation of Hollywood. It's not Oscar quality at all, but it's a fun one just to kick back and enjoy.

I'm nearly 16 years old and I went to watch this movie with my mother and a group of girls between the ages of seven and fifteen. I frankly didn't think this movie was all that bad (nor did the group I saw it with), sure there were some cheesy parts and scenes where the acting lacked but overall I think that the movie was good wholesome fun; it's a good family film.

I do suggest seeing this movie with an open mind though; especially if you have read the books. Nancy isn't portrayed EXACTLY as she is in the books and part of the idea of the movie was to take the girl from the 60's and plop her down in California in the worlds current state.

The lot I went with laughed the entire movie (with exception of my mother whom cried near the very end). If you give this movie a chance and don't set your expectations too high you might find that you actually enjoy this movie.

To be honest, I had to go see this movie backwards, didn't expect that much, but hey, I was not deceived, I had a good time.

I would say this movie is way a fresh breeze, despite some facts that they tried to modernize Nancy Drew, but this made me remember these youth movies of the 60-70s from Europe and Quebec, where they manage to have children getting interacting with adults. In this case, a 16 year-old teenager tries to do justice by trying to solve a mystery concerning the death of an actress who died 25 years ago. Anyway, as her dad had business in Hollywood, why not rent a home with a mystery behind doors ? Well, at least Emma Roberts does a great job here. Kinda like the chubby kid, who at first is naively brought to support his sister's pranks to Nancy, but at the end, found Nancy quite cool enough to stick with her, even with her matters...

Rest of the supporting cast is great, and was happy to see Rachael Leigh Cook in a different role this time: a single mother (she did it in Family Rescue, but this time, she plays a mature woman...) Anyway, don't dump this, it is fun !

It's not a great film, but much better than expected and fans of cheesy teen films should find something here to enjoy, though it does struggle at times when if falls into the typical small town girl being taken advantage of the cooler kids from the big city. I've noticed some people objecting to Emma Roberts being cast in the title role, but she comes off quite capable and smart, and she's likable and young enough if the studio would decide to make this into a franchise she could do quite well. And Josh Flitter is a good comic foil for this type of film. Not great, but better than your average Hollywood fare. You can come read the full review Friday morning at RazorFine.