Nancy Drew (2007)
#65 in my 2007 movie challenge was Nancy Drew. In spite of middling reviews, I felt I had to see it. What kind of girl-detective cred would I have if I didn’t?
The attractive Emma Roberts (daughter of Eric and niece of Julia) plays Nancy, a small-town girl who helps the police solve crime and catch bad guys in small-town River Heights. As in the books, she has a blue roadster, a boyfriend named Ned, and friends named Bess and George. Her father is Carson Drew, played (rather Oedipally in my mind) by Tate Donovan, whose hairline looked suspiciously tidy to me. Nancy and her Dad move to California. While Nancy promised Dad to give up sleuthing, her curious nature can’t rest. She begins to investigate the mysterious death of the previous owner of the house they’re renting. Hijinks ensue; truth, justice, and single mothers triumph in the end.
What I liked: the iconic pencil drawings that framed the film with Nancy in various sleuthing poses. These nicely evoked the hardcover books as well as the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys television show of my youth. The books had a cameo on Nancy’s shelves, and their titles were used in passing to refer to an actress’s movies. The soundtrack was surprisingly good, and Roberts’s retro wardrobe was dreamy. Nancy was a clever, resourceful heroine, and thus a good role model for girls. Ned was a thoughtful, sincere guy, and their pairing was sweet, if strangely prim. Bruce Willis had a clever cameo.
What didn’t work: The film’s tone veered way over the line of goofy all the way into bizarre. It often seemed like the filmmakers didn’t know which tone to pick, so they threw a bunch in to see what would work best. The shrill, round boy who became her sidekick brought Jar Jar Binks to my mind, and his two-dimensional sister and her friend were no better. I suspect the imbalance was because the film was aimed at ‘tweens, but about a girl who must be at least sixteen, since she can drive. The mystery and the characters were very simple. I think the film would have been more successful if it had attempted to satisfy an older audience.