Nancy Drew, based on the long-running series of novels, is directed by Andrew Fleming (The Craft), and stars Emma Roberts (Aquamarine), Josh Flitter (The Greatest Game Ever Played), Barry Bostwick (Spin City), and Max Thierot (The Astronaut Farmer.) The film version of Nancy Drew stays true to the roots of the novel series on which it was based, but modernizes the characters/settings/etc. Nancy and her father rent a house on the west coast, and her father forbids her to go about her usual habits of investigation. Of course, when she ends up not fitting in at school, she has no choice but to maintain her sanity by falling back into her old habit - investigating a mystery of the home she and her father have rented. ***

The problem with Nancy Drew books is that their key demographic is fairly limited, with the primary emphasis being toward preteen girls. And regretfully, this movie version of the series doesn't fare a whole lot differently. Anyone who doesn't fall into that key demographic this series is targeted at is going to get bored quickly. The problems are far too numerous - shallow characters, overlong length, and predictability galore, to name a few. ***

One of the problems with this take on Nancy Drew is that the crew couldn't decide whether to update the character for modern times, or set things in the day and age when the novels were at their peak. What we get instead is an uneven mess of a movie, with settings that were updated for the 21st century, but a heroine who was not. Even amongst the intended audience, those coming in expecting a heroine they can relate to will be hopelessly out of touch with a girl whose behavior was typical of American society half a century ago. As much as I like Emma Roberts, the poor writing here deals a fatal blow to the character. ***

But the weaknesses, regretfully, don't end there. What we really have here is about an hour's worth of movie dragged out to about 100 minutes. No characters evolve or develop over the course of that lengthy, drawn-out duration. And the so-called “mystery” is hardly a mystery at all. Anyone older than the intended audience won't get any surprises at all. ---

Image And Sound:

The transfer to DVD looks solid, with no major grain or blemishes to tarnish your viewing experience. The majority of the audio in the film is dialogue, and all of it comes across loud and clear. Additionally, Warner Bros. has included both widescreen and full screen versions of the movie on the disc, something they have been doing with a number of their recent titles. Hopefully other film companies will follow suit.

There are a few special features on the disc, but most of them are worthless, and like the film, won't appeal to anyone outside the target audience. All we get is a main featurette, five mini featurettes, a gag reel, and a music video. Gag reels seem to be typical additions on DVDs these day, and this one is no different than you'd expect. The music video is loud and obnoxious, though the target audience will likely beg to differ. None of the featurettes are all that interesting, they too clearly being targeted towards a younger audience. I'm glad to see plenty of extra features made the cut, but if you're an adult none of it will be all that interesting. What I don't understand is why no commentary was included.

Final Words: