As the story goes, Nancy Drew’s (Roberts) most recent case in her hometown of River Heights leads to a hostage situation. Worried about the dangers sleuthing puts her in, concerned dad Carson Drew (Donovan) decides to move to Los Angles where she can focus on just being a normal teenager. Naturally, a detective without a mystery to solve is like a junky without a fix and a fish without water. Despite the best intentions, Nancy arranges for her dad to rent the old, dilapidated Draycott mansion, which was once the home of an actress who died under – you guessed it – mysterious circumstances. It doesn’t take long for the game, as they say, to get afoot.
A Balanced Movie
While the mystery itself isn’t Agatha Christie and Ebert’s Law of Economy of Characters applies unfailingly, it holds its own well enough. It hits the right notes to make it accessible to younger viewers without patronizing older ones. More importantly, it nicely glues together the various parts of the story, moving briskly forward along with the subplots that flesh characters out. Nancy Drew herself, of course, gets the most added dimensions, even if it is based on a concept akin to taking the Brady Bunch and sticking them in South Central L.A. Emma Roberts is absolutely charming as Nancy, fully embodying the teen sleuth’s smarts as well as her pluckiness and capacity to just be gosh-darned nice. Draped in the role-model-worthy message of being true to yourself, Nancy represents the simple but always worthwhile values that often get pooh-poohed by today’s cynicism. Think Normal Rockwell rather than James Elroy.
But “Nancy Drew,” as written by Andrew Fleming and Tiffany Paulsen, is above all a model of balance, and other characters do get to shine a bit on their own. Granted, there are times when the shine is merely a reflection from the Nancy Drew center of the film’s universe. The cast is so genuinely likeable, though, that there’s usually always a glimmer of depth beyond the role their characters play in the overall plot. This doesn’t mean we get great complexity – Josh Flitter is hysterical and rather sweet as a 12-year-old with a crush on 16-year-old Nancy, yet still the comic relief – but that director Fleming blends the writing and acting in a way that doesn’t give off the smell of a story told by the numbers. In other words, the sum is greater than the part.
It’s a good sign that there’s also room for the characters to grow. The budding romance between Nancy and down-to-earth Ned Nickerson (Theriot) offers the potential for teenaged sparks – as long as future writers don’t let Ned stagnate as a love-sick puppy whose acceptance of being second-fiddle to Nancy’s sleuthing won’t take long to burst the plausibility bubble. And the reality of fighting crime, butting against Nancy Drew’s ideological innocence, offers plenty of dramatic opportunities. It wouldn’t be surprising, then, to see in “Nancy Drew” the birth of a franchise. But just as it’s nice to see Bruce Willis continue with his new career doing cameos as himself, it’s a pleasant surprise to welcome more adventures for a charming, clever, lovely and genuinely nice heroine.
Technical Quality: ** (out of two)
Nancy Drew. Written by Andrew Fleming and Tiffany Paulsen. Directed by Andrew Fleming. Starring Emma Roberts, Rachel Leigh Cook, Max Theriot, Josh Flitter, Barry Bostwick and Tate Donovan. 90 minutes. Rated PG for mild violence, thematic elements and brief language.
For reviews of Paprika and Day Watch, also playing in theatres, please visit Frédérik’s personal website at www.inkandashes.net.
