Official Synopsis:
With her magnifying glass and fingerprint powder in hand, Nancy Drew leaves River Heights for Hollywood... but not to meet that guy on Smallville, as her boyfriend Ned fears. No, she's out to solve one of the greatest mysteries ever: the death of movie star Dehlia Draycott. But the bigger mystery is how our perky, plaid-clad sleuth will fit in with the text-messaging teen queens of mean she meets at Hollywood High. Join Emma Roberts as Nancy in this timeless girl detective mystery as she finds danger, adventure and romance. Because wherever Nancy goes, excitement follows. 

  
Our Take:
It may come as a surprise to you that I was actually disappointed in Nancy Drew, because I’m guessing most of you are wondering exactly what my expectations were like if I was let down by a film clearly aimed at 13-year old girls. But that’s exactly what disappointed me; the film is only aimed at 13-year-old girls. With what seemed like an extremely clever and fun trailer, I thought Nancy Drew had the potential to be a crossover hit, a la Alex Ryder: Operation Stormbreaker or even the Harry Potter films (although to a much lesser extent, obviously). Unfortunately, by trying to combine Mean Girls with a Disney Channel made-for-TV mystery, the result is a lot blander than I’d hoped.

I grew up reading The Hardy Boys, and by extension, Nancy Drew books. The characters crossed over on television, the books were very similar in structure and tone, and even though the Hardy Boys may have been marketed for boys and Nancy Drew marketed for girls, I enjoyed both. So I was looking forward to this big-screen reinvention of Nancy Drew. And to be fair, it has some elements that work. Emma Roberts (yes, she’s Julia’s niece) does a great job, and she’s perfectly cast as the precocious young sleuth. I also like the film’s tone; it’s fun and playful, with Nancy enjoying throwbacks to the 50’s, but not trapped in the past like the characters in the Brady Bunch movies.

But the film is wildly uneven, trying too hard to be both a mystery and a potential chapter in the High School Musical saga (although without the singing). Sometimes you’ll laugh, but other times you’ll wince, such as during the painfully overwrought “hesitant romance” scenes between Nancy and Ned, her chaste boyfriend. There are also way too many instances of the term “sleuthing” which makes the movie feel very unhip, no matter how hip it tries to be.

The Nancy Drew DVD comes with a standard array of so-so extra features. Here’s what you get.

* Nancy Drew: Kids at Work - Emma Roberts and the cast up close and personal.
* Gag Reel (3 minutes) – Clearly for the short-attention-span set, this short blooper reel is edited at such a breakneck pace, there isn’t even time to laugh.
* Music Video – Joanna’s "Pretty Much Amazing." Eh.
* Mini-Featurette Gallery: Cool Scenes with the Cast and Crew (9 minutes) – Learn what the kids in the cast have on their iPods and more in these short features.

If I were a 13-year-old girl, I might be able to really embrace Nancy Drew, but even though there are parts of the film that I like, ultimately, it’s a bit disappointing. Hopefully the inevitable Hardy Boys follow-up will do a better job.

Overall Picture:
Movie: C+
DVD: C+

- Mike Spring
Editor