Thursday, September 12, 2019

Nancy Drew (2007)

“Excuse me, I have to defuse this bomb.”  12 September 2019
Nancy Drew promised her dad she wouldn’t get involved in anymore sleuthing.  But when the Drews rent a home that had belonged to a movie star who died under mysterious circumstances, what’s a girl detective to do?  Nancy soon finds herself threatened by baddies, looking for a lost will, and investigating the circumstances behind a decades old adoption.  It’s just a normal day for Nancy Drew!
I realize that there’s no way in the world that I’m part of the target audience that the makers of Nancy Drew were going for.  Despite that, I had a surprisingly good time with the film. Sure, the mystery is paper thin, the comedy is all too obvious, and some of the acting is substandard, but I still found it entertaining.  Emma Roberts is just about perfect as teen Nancy. She might be perky, cute, charming, delightful (pick your adjective), and a bit old fashioned, but she’s a bulldog when she gets on the scent of a mystery.  Run her off the road, kidnap her, put a bomb in her car – she takes it all in stride with a smile on her face. I thoroughly enjoyed the character and Ms Roberts’ performance. The sets are another big plus for Nancy Drew.  The creepy old mansion, complete with hidden passages, is the ideal setting for a mystery. Andrew Fleming’s direction is pretty much spot-on. I found the film’s pacing just about perfect from beginning to end. Finally, I got a real kick out of seeing a few old, familiar faces, like Rachel Leigh Cook and Bruce Willis.   
According to IMDb, Nancy Drew made just over $30 million.  I wish it had made more. I would like to have seen a whole series of Emma Roberts-led Nancy Drew films. 

6/10

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