Veronica Mars

Ever since the titular teenage super-sleuth TV show was cancelled in 2007, creator Rob Thomas has been trying to get a spin-off feature film made. Through an audacious, groundbreaking Kickstarter campaign, 91,585 of its most ardent fans contributed $5.7 million (setting a record for the use of crowdsourcing in fundraising), finally making the film possible. Nine years later, now-in-her-late 20s Veronica (Kristen Bell) is a law school graduate, seeking employment in New York City, where she's living with her longtime boyfriend Stosh “Piz” Piznarski (Chris Lowell). But when her ex-flame, Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring), is charged with murdering his rock-star girlfriend, Carrie Bishop—now known as Bonnie DeVille (Andrea Estella)—Veronica heads back to her fictional hometown of Neptune in Southern California, an affluent beach community where wealthy socialites and working-class folk clash (often with violent consequences), just in time for her 10-year reunion at Neptune High. Co-scripted by Diane Ruggiero and director Thomas, Veronica Mars serves up a video collage of exposition and voiceover narration as returning cast members slip into their accustomed roles, including Veronica's close friends Cindy “Mac” Mackenzie (Tina Majorino) and Wallace Fennel (Percy Daggs III), the surfer/philosopher Dick Casablancas (Ryan Hansen), and the sleazy, corrupt Sheriff Lamb (Jerry O'Connell). Veronica's relationship with her father, Keith (Enrico Colantoni), a former sheriff-turned-private-investigator, has the most depth. Jamie Lee Curtis cameos as Veronica's prospective Manhattan employer, while James Franco plays himself. More TV than Hollywood movie, this low-budget effort that can be sassy and snappy in its best moments is a strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “By the Fans” making-of featurette on the Kickstarter campaign and filming (56 min.). Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is a gag reel (5 min.), “Game Show with Kristen Bell and Chris Lowell” with the costars (5 min.), the behind-the-scenes segments “Veronica Mars' Backers” (5 min.), “Welcome to Keith Mars Investigation” (3 min.), “On Set with Max Greenfield” (3 min.), “It's Not All About You, Monkey” (3 min.), and the brief “Young Veronica,” as well as deleted scenes (4 min.), and a bonus UltraViolet copy of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a film that will mostly appeal to fans of the defunct TV series.] (S. Granger)