Nancy Drew [DVD]

Legendary teenage sleuth Nancy Drew enters the 21st century in this feature film from director Andrew Fleming (NIXON, THE CRAFT). In Nancy's (Emma Roberts) latest mystery, she and her father (Tate Donovan) make a temporary move from rural River Heights to Los Angeles. Determined to make the most of her stay, Nancy has chosen them a rental home with a notorious past: the mysterious death of its owner, starlet Dehlia Draycott, in the early 1980s. The closer Nancy edges towards the truth, the more trouble she encounters from someone who clearly doesn’t want the mystery solved. To make matters worse, old-fashioned Nancy doesn’t quite fit in with the cool kids--or anyone else--at Hollywood High, except for younger would-be Romeo Corky (Josh Flitter). Screenwriters Fleming and Tiffany Paulsen do not try to make over this beloved character into a modern teen. Instead, they make earnest Nancy simply a girl who likes old-fashioned things: outfits that include penny loafers and coordinated knee socks, headbands, and homemade knee-length dresses; her classic roadster convertible; impeccable manners; and, her housekeeper’s homemade baked goods. Roberts--the daughter of Eric Roberts and niece of Julia Roberts--is affable as Nancy. Even Bruce Willis (playing himself in a cameo) can’t resist her charms. Rachel Leigh Cook, Barry Bostwick, and Marshall Bell also star as characters whose lives will change significantly if Nancy can solve the mystery, and Max Thieriot plays her smitten hometown boyfriend, Ned Nickerson. This is a fun blast from the past for women who grew up reading Carolyn Keene’s classic novels, as well as for young girls who are enjoying THE SECRET OF THE OLD CLOCK or THE HIDDEN STAIRCASE for the first time.