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Back Shelf Beauties
by Willie Waffle

Nancy Drew

As fans of the books know, Nancy Drew is the greatest sleuth to ever live in the small town of River Heights.  However, Dad (Tate Donovan) is getting worried that her sleuthing is putting his young teen daughter in too many dangerous situations.  Since they will be relocating to Los Angeles for a short time, while Dad works on big court case, Nancy promises to give up sleuthing and be a regular teen, but that’s not going to happen (because you wouldn’t have a movie then would you?).  Nancy picked the house where they will be living, and did so because it is the home of a famous murdered starlet, and our teen sleuth wants to get to the bottom of the unsolved case. 

Will Nancy Drew discover why Dehlia Draycott disappeared, and who murdered her upon her return to Hollywood?  Will Dad find out Nancy is up to her sleuthing ways?  How many times can I write, “sleuthing”?

Nancy Drew is a refreshing movie, especially for parents worried their daughters’ only role models are Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton.  It’s not going to be an Oscar contender, or change the way you view movies, but Nancy Drew is a cute, fun adventure with flaws none of the pre-teen kids in the audience will ever notice, and most parents can forgive.  The story does put Nancy in some perilous situations, which will be too much for the youngest of kids to handle, but co-writer/director Andrew Fleming and co-writer Tiffany Paulsen provide a simple story more focused on the main character than the somewhat obvious mystery.  It’s a smart move once you realize it’s Emma Roberts who makes the movie worth watching.      

While she always is referred to as Julia Roberts’s niece, Nancy Drew gives Emma a chance to emerge from her Aunt’s shadow, and show she is a very charming and talented young actress in her own right.  She grabs onto the idea of Nancy being a girl out of time like she stepped out of a 1950’s Ozzie and Harriett episode to be confronted with the wildness of 2007, armed only with her sleuthing kit and a tasty baked good treat (sounds like a dream girl to me).  However, Roberts is smart enough never to let Nancy be the butt of the joke, or let anyone in the audience think she should be mocked for her wholesome ways or reliance on her brain over slutty clothes.  She’s a hero on her own terms, and a lady who knows how to be true to herself, no matter what anyone else thinks. 

Fleming and Paulsen don’t win any points for their stereotypically portraying of all adults in the movie as complete doofuses, or how Nancy’s Dad always seems to be wrong.  They fill Nancy Drew with plenty of montages to kill time when the story runs thin, but the overall movie is entertaining, has some fun cameos and could be the start of a good series of sequels.

2 ½ Waffles (Out of 4)

Nancy Drew is rated PG for mild violence, thematic elements and brief language. 

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