Harriet la petite espionne

Harriet M. Welsch (Michelle Trachtenberg) is a sixth grader with best friends Sport (Gregory Smith) and Janie Gibbs. Her nanny Golly (Rosie O'Donnell) drives her to write. She spies on her neighborhood writing it all down in her notebook. Marion Hawthorne (Charlotte Sullivan) is the class mean girl. Golly sees Harriet is old enough and leaves. Marion takes Harriet's notebook and starts reading it out loud to everybody. Even Sport and Janie turns on Harriet when her uncomplimentary private thoughts become public.

The movie is aggressively trying to be wacky. It comes off looking cheap. Director Bronwen Hughes in her feature debut struggles from time to time. Some parts of the movie is less compelling than others. Spying on the cat guy is fine but spying on Eartha Kitt takes up too much time in an important section of the movie. Then there is the heart of the movie. While I appreciate the attempt at a life lesson, it's a bit too muddy. I don't know if white lies are worthy of being the central lesson of the movie. I would also have preferred Sport go off on his own rather than joining Marion. It seems wrong for his character that has been created. Trachtenberg is a terrific child actress and gives a great performance. She keeps the movie moving.

I just saw this film yesterday morning - ideal relaxation for the holiday weekend. The story was OK, maybe a bit shallow for my taste - I'm haven't been a kid for a long time - but I was really taken with the acting. Everyone played his/her part beautifully, completely credible, and none was the frightful red-haired brat as used to be portrayed in children's movies.

I was particularly taken with Harriet herself, and am not surprised that she has gone on to greater things.

The main lesson learned from this film appears to be that two wrongs do not make a right. Bush note!

This is a good film. Michelle Trachtenberg makes a great Harriet the Spy. This movie is filled with comedy for the younger kids and is worth a look. I think this movie is underrated and it should have recieved more than it did. I read the book and from what I can remember, this movie resembles the book well. The

supporting cast including Rosie O'Donnell is great. The characterization is also well done including the characters Sport, Janie and the wise cracker Marion

Hawthorne. Harriet the Spy has a great mix of comedy, drama and tragedy. I

recommend this movie to any young one and if you've haven't read the book, I

would recommend you do or you might not understand this movie. *** out of ****

with the possible exception of irvin kershner's 1966 adaptation of elliot baker's a fine madness, i don't i've seen a better translation of a book about writing into a film. sure we think of louise fitzhugh's harriet trilogy (harriet the spy, the long secret, and sport) as being about the the comic adventures of a little girl and her friends in nyc and they are; but the heart of harriet's writerly spirit comes shining through in bronwen hughes film of douglas petrie's fairly literal, and literate, adaption. there is a period update which makes some of the book's innocence play a little quaint and the kid movie necessary rapid edit kiddie silliness that saps some of the seriousness without actually attaining the levity it seeks; but by and large the film is worth taking any kid over 8 to and anyone who has ever seriously thought of writing, or even just felt a longing to express and accepted. PS the rosie odonnell billing is way over valued. Michelle Trachtenberg,as Harriet, more than ably carries the film, especially considering she was only 11 at the time.

This movie was not what I expected, but I was not disappointed; I was rather entertained. I'm not familiar with the books regarding Harriet the Spy, so I thought the movie was going to be about a kid who uncovered and foiled some illegal plot she stumbled across. I had no idea it was about a girl who aspired to be a writer. It was more dramatic than I expected too, but very realistic..it was about loosing friends and winning friends back-a more realistic story than uncovering and foiling an illegal plot. I loved the city scenes of the children running around Ontario in the autumn. I found it to be rather cinematographic.