CS Weekly Archive > Weekend Read > 06/15/07

Get a Clue

By danny munso

Nancy Drew

Screenplay by Andrew Fleming and Tiffany Paulsen (former directed)
Story by Tiffany Paulsen
Based on characters created by Carolyn Keene

It's not often a sequel is greenlit before the first film hits theaters, let alone one that stars a 16-year-old detective. True, Nancy Drew is something of a literary legend, but there hasn't been a big screen adaptation in almost 70 years, and judging by this effort, perhaps there was a reason. This modern update has Nancy (Emma Roberts—yes, Julia's niece) leaving her small town of River Heights to move in with her dad (Tate Donovan) in Los Angeles. Turns out that Dad's new house is haunted by the ghost of a dead film star (Laura Harring) whose death was, of course, unsolved. Though she's promised Pops that sleuthing is behind her, Nancy can't resist a case this good. When it works, the mystery crafted by director Andrew Fleming (Dick) and first-time writer Tiffany Paulsen is solid, keeping the audience engaged and even adding nice nods to old Hollywood along the way. The problem is—and it's a big problem—the film spends more time on Nancy than it does on her crime solving, and our heroine is a boring, humorless dud. Even the nice running gag involving Nancy's leanings toward late-50's clothing (and automobiles) gets stale quick. The story finally gets raring when the writers get to the plot late in the second act, which at least allows the film to end on a high note, as the mystery unfolds quite naturally, even holding a surprise in store for the audience. Now that they've shown they can handle a good detective plot, the writers will now have to solve the case of the stale sleuth for the upcoming sequel.

Nancy Drew
Warner Bros.
Rated PG; 99 min.

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Danny Munso graduated from film school in 2004 and can currently be found on his computer working on one of his many half-written screenplays. Or, more likely, he's on the Internet checking the scores of his beloved Bay Area sports teams.

Nancy Drew courtesy Warner Bros.

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