I never read Nancy Drew as a kid. Never watched the series or movies and thus have no real attachment to the character. So my perspective on this film certainly might be different than that of others.
The film starts out with Nancy catching a couple of burglars in the act. Everyone is on hand for the capture, with the police grateful for her assistance. Everyone is happy with the wondersleuth; everyone except her father. He, not unreasonably, fears for her safety.
The Drews head to L.A. for her father’s work. Nancy makes a promise to avoid sleuthing while they are in La La Land. This proves more to be more difficult than she imagined. The film plays Nancy’s crime fighting as almost an addiction.
Eventually, Nancy gives in to her need to peep and works to uncover the decades old secret behind the death of a faded movie star.
Nancy looks much the same as she did decades ago. Instead of portraying a Nancy from years gone by, we are given a very smart, polite small town girl with a fondness of old style clothing. The character is the butt of some jokes at first, but she wins most over with her brains and skills.
Nancy Drew is fluff, but entertaining fluff. There are no huge holes in the plot and everyone does a solid job. Emma Roberts is convincing and quite likeable as a smart teen whose first love is detection.
We get a smattering of extras, but none of them is really that interesting. They certainly could have spent some time talking about the character and what she has meant to various generations over the years. Instead we get a look at the young actors and how they enjoyed making the film. Pretty much your standard fluff pieces.
While this may not live up to the lofty expectations of die-hard fans, Nancy Drew is an enjoyable light mystery flick. Truth be told, I have some doubt as to whether or not the current generation would have sat still for something more serious. ND was, I think, just what the doctor ordered for the kids of today.
Jeremy Lynch
For more reviews from myself, and the rest of the Crimespree crew, check out the index of reviews.
