Nancy Drew (2007)

good back-story, and good acting

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

This movie has some serious deficiencies by modern standards: No sex. One kiss. A little bit of violence.Had it come out 40 years ago or so, it would be considered a classic. But in this cynical modern age--the worst aspects of which Nancy seems to reject--people are missing the ingredients that make for a successful Hollywood hit.I enjoyed the movie. It's a bit predictable, the children's acting is uneven, and the plot was a bit silly. But Emma Roberts as Nancy was outstanding. I enjoyed watching her interpret her character with such sincerity. She was witty, composed, in control, and powerful.My main regret is that they've waited so long to produce the sequel; Nancy was 16 or 17 when this movie was made, and she'll be 20 in 2011. But, Hollywood has a way with makeup and smoke and mirrors, so we may not notice too much of an age difference.

The most interesting thing about feature film-making is how the final cut rarely turns out quite the way it was initially visualized. Most of the time this is a bad thing but on occasion it is a good thing; typically thanks to some little detail of the production that creates an unexpected synergy between the other elements. For example, in "The Clique" (2008), an especially good costume designer decorates each scene with a creativity that transforms a teen movie into a visual homage of its source novel series.This same accidental homage to its literary source series occurs in "Nancy Drew" (2007); in this case because Emma Roberts (as the title character) unexpectedly transcends the intended parody; effortlessly selling the heroine she is playing. The film's original intention was to work on two levels; to give its middle school target audience an entertaining mystery film while subtly poking fun at its wrapped too tight traditional heroine. Much like "The Brady Bunch Movie" (1995) there would be some viewers who got it on this second level.But Roberts throws a monkey wrench into the works with a Winona Ryder type straight performance which adds a third dimension to the production. Even those laughing the loudest at the parody elements (which are not as extreme as those in "The Brady Bunch Movie") will find it hard to not identify with her character.Roberts' Nancy is the real thing. This is not Bonita Granville's "Nancy" who owed more to the heroines of 1930's screwball comedies than to her literary counterpart. Which is not to disparage those four very entertaining films, but to simply note that readers finally get to watch the heroine that they know; even if it is in a more contemporary environment.Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

I rented this for my 8 year old daughter several times, but never watched it with her (dad watched it with her instead). This 3rd time around, I was pulled in by the cool songs I was hearing in the movie. Turns out, the film is really well done. Directing, casting, production design--all nicely done. They've modernized Nancy and the story just a bit, but have kept it very sweet. This Nancy is a bit zanier than the Nancy I remember (the one from the first 50 or so novels was more serious), but she still comes off as intelligent, compassionate and an all around likable character. Ned is darling and Nany's young sidekick is hilarious. I agree with a previous reviewer who felt that some of the Los Angeles sets could have been a bit better, but I have to say I really loved the accuracy of the Old World mansion with it's style of the time (the 70's) popping up in parts of the house. Anyway, all in all it was a really fun movie!

I'm a big fan of Emma Roberts and seen her in many shows and movies before, such as a movie "Aquamarine" and show called "Unfabulous". They were all great shows and movies and I was dead impressed by her performances, they were spectacular, and she put lots of energy in them as well, which is an added bonus. Well done Em.Then I heard about her new movie, "Nancy Drew" and I was surprised to her in the movie, because she is normally plays a young teenage average teenage girl who likes to go shopping and hang out with her friends. But this movie, it changes her personality, she's no longer a normal average teenager, she also likes to solve mysteries and will stop at nothing to uncover the truth. Which is fantastic, because we see two different Emmas here and it's great to see her in some sort of mystery movie.As for me, no fan of the books or Nancy Drew, I thought I could give this movie a try and surprisingly it was a great movie. And her are the reasons why I enjoyed it : The performances were all fabulous, all the cast done their role fluently and you can see they put lots of energy in their role to make this movie worthwhile. But the one that stands out, was Emma Roberts, who surprised us all with her sleuthing and she is still young, but she was the heart of the movie.As for the plot, very good. But I feel a little more action could be delivered, because in some parts of the movie, it's boring. So if the finishing action were 15 minutes longer, it would have been excellent. But overall a great plot, simple and complex, with not too much dialogue or characters, so the well done writers.Overall, a fun movie, with a few twists to keep us entertained. With splendid performances by the cast, it scored hundreds and points for this movie, but a little more action could be added, if there was it could have been excellent. I thought 8 stars was right was the right rating for this movie, because of its brilliance. So once again, well done cast and crew.