Nancy Drew

The plucky girl sleuth heroine of a zillion novels written by Carolyn Keene, Nancy Drew (played by winsome Emma Roberts, Julia's young niece) keeps fingerprint kits and passkeys in her purse and fearlessly apprehends malefactors in her cheery suburban community while her father Carson (Tate Donovan) frets constantly. After Carson takes Nancy to Los Angeles (dad's engaged on a lengthy project), they move into a sublet—a haunted house once owned by a glamorous Hollywood star—and Nancy quickly becomes involved in a mystery. Director Andrew Fleming, working from a carefully calibrated script, strikes a fine balance: attempting to maintain Nancy's wholesome image (originally developed back in the Depression days), he makes her a walking anachronism—bright, generous, well-mannered, solicitous of others, and scrupulously honest. In other words, the total opposite of the shallow, self-absorbed brats she meets while attending Hollywood High. Max Thieriot plays Nancy's on-again/off-again boyfriend Ned Nickerson with just the right blend of confusion and subservience, and Rachael Leigh Cook has a nice supporting role as a murder victim's daughter. Nancy Drew is a creditable if also unremarkable updating of the venerable property—which, it should be said, will still appeal primarily to ‘tween girls. A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD extras include five “Mini-Featurettes” on the cast and crew (10 min. total), a nine-minute “Kids at Work” behind-the-scenes featurette, a gag reel (2 min.), the “Pretty Much Amazing” music video performed by Joanna, and trailers. Bottom line: a small extras package for a ‘tween-friendly film.] (E. Hulse)