Ramona and Beezus

I was expecting a poor movie but my friend and I both thoroughly enjoyed the film. The storyline of the misunderstood kid has been done before and this as it is designed does tug at my heartstrings. Joey King is a natural and plays her role very well easily gaining my sympathy.I liked the role Sierra McCormic played. When I watch this kind of film I don't feel comfortable with an overly aggressive villain. The relationship between Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Spevack was feel good but for an adult viewer it may make the movie a tad too feel good. Into every life a little rain must fall. All in all the cast did a good job pulling together a familiar plot. The special effects worked well. It was easy to relate to the drawn out magic that a child feels when having fun. Lauri Craig's direction showed no flaws, the movie flowed smoothly. I would have liked a bit more time devoted to the commercial contest to see how it fit into the story.

Sitting down to watch this movie, I knew that I was in for some kind of children's movie, but "Ramona and Beezus" proved to be so much more than just that.

I am not familiar with the written work of Beverly Cleary that this movie is based on, so I cannot draw any comparisons or say what differs from the books and what is true to it, so I will not deal with this matter.

The story deals with multiple story lines and does so in a good way. Of course, you have the lead character, little Ramona Quimby (played by Joey King) who has a very colorful imagination and seem to always be in the spotlight for often not so good things. So the movie deals with her life and her view of the world, and it expresses this in a very good way. And that is of course very well helped along the way by a very charismatic, adorable and good acting Joey King.

Then there is the whole family aspect to the story, and that is one of the supporting foundations of the movie as well, and it gets around to deal with a number of elements in family life, and again does so in a good way. Carried by the excellent cast and the storyline in general. The roles of Ramona and Beezus' mom and dad were played by Bridget Moynahan and John Corbett. Again, two actors who put on very believable performances in the movie.

And of course there is a love story element to the story, well two of them actually, the love story between aunt Bea (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Hobart (Josh Duhamel), and the teenage love romance between Beezus (Selena Gomez) and Henry (Hutch Dano). Both of these love stories are nicely told also, and you do believe in them in the way they are portrayed. And again, all four actors/actresses here did a good job with their roles.

There are so many elements that play through the movie and they all work well together and come full circle throughout the movie in a very satisfying and wholesome way.

Do not, like I did, write this movie off as some sappy family movie for the kids, because it honestly is much more than just that. With hand on heart, I am glad that I sat down to watch this movie, because it is an uplifting experience for the spirit and the heart. This movie is intended as wholesome entertainment for the family and it delivers right on. I think this is the type of movie that will stay with you for a long time, because it just makes you feel happy and put you in a good mood.

I highly recommend this movie if you need a break from the stress of daily life and want to sit down and unwind with an uplifting story. This movie is suitable for children and adults alike, both male and female.

Oh, and the cat, Picky Picky, was so cute and adorable. And he looks quite a lot like my own cat! haha...

Thumbs way up for this heartwarming movie.

Ramona Quimby (Joey King) lives in a typical middle class neighborhood on the west coast. Her family consists of Father Robert (John Corbett), Mother Dorothy (Bridget Moynahan), big Sister Beatrice, er, Beezus (Selena Gomez) and a new baby sister. Also close to the Quimbys is their mother's sibling, Aunt Bea (Ginnifer Goodwin). Unlike Beezus, who is an excellent student and very mature for a budding teenager, Ramona struggles at school, especially with her no-nonsense teacher (Sandra Oh). The instructor doesn't have much patience with Ramona's penchant to coin new words, among other issues. Life at the house, also, takes a strange turn, when in the middle of home-remodeling project, Dad loses his job. Soon, Mom is working part time at her old job and Pop becomes the lunch packer and house-husband, while sending out a large amount of resumes. Aunt Bea's life, too, receives a curveball when old flame, Hobart (Josh Duhamel) moves back to his original home next to the Quimbys. Happily recovered from the long ago heartbreak of Hobart's abandonment, Bea is startled to find him lavishing attention on her once again. What's a girl to do? Beezus has love trouble, too, when a relationship with longtime pal, Henry Huggins, may turn into a romance. Ramona continues to weather storms, such as the day an egg breaks on her head, minutes ahead of the school pictures! But, biggest problem of all is the fact that they may have to move, if Dad doesn't find a job in town. What will the future bring for the Quimbys? This is very fine family flick, with plenty of humor and energy without any objectionable material. In fact, it is a shining example of how successful a movie can be without sex or bad language. Then, too, the actors do a great job, with King leading the way. What a wholesome and realistic young actress she is! Gomez, too, is a winning and lovely young thespian while Corbett, Moynahan, Oh, Goodwin, Duhamel and all of the others are lively, all-too-human and flat-out fun. The west coast setting is lovely, as are the costumes, script and all other film amenities while the direction is secure and confident. All in all, this film is one every family should have on hand, for repeated viewings, I predict, will never grow old.

It seemed like a too good to be true of a movie, I thought it wouldn't be as good as advertised. Mainly I wanted to watch it b/c Selena Gomez is in it, but I love it for reasons beyond her! I could also relate to her because she was closer to my age. It surprised me and got to my heart. It is definitely a feel good family type of movie. I really like the dynamic between Ramona and Beezus, and how we see them bond and their relationship develop & improve. If I see it on TV once in a while, I'm glad to watch it again. It also keeps pretty lightweight most of the time while dealing with struggles and problems. I recommend this!

My wife and I watched this movie at home on DVD from our public library. After I saw Joey King in a teenage role on the TV series "Fargo" I looked up this older movie to see how she was at a younger time. The impact of this movie depends totally on her performance and she really is superb, one of the best child performances I have seen.

The family, which includes three daughters, lives in Portland in a middle class neighborhood. Joey King has the main role of Ramona Quimby, the 9-yr-old middle daughter. Selena Gomez is good as her teenage sister, with the nickname of Beezus because as a toddler Ramona pronounced her name that way and it stuck.

Ramona is a bright, energetic girl who often fails "to color inside the lines" in various aspects of growing up, including school where she routinely gets into bits of trouble. But deep down she is a pearl with a big heart and it eventually shines through.

All the cast are good, there are several other stories going on, including dad getting laid off when a larger company bought the company he worked for, resulting in the possibility the family may need to move to eastern Oregon.

We enjoyed the movie, it was very refreshing to watch a movie with no sex, no violence, and the worst language was when young Ramona was upset, she yelled "guts" over and over.