The Short, Short Version

Nancy Drew (2007)

Rating ... B+ (73)

Neither a crackerjack paean to ancient history and traditional values nor the girl-power rebuff you'd sort of expect given the polarity of the book series in relation to The Hardy Boys, I'm pleased to report that Nancy Drew, with notable tact, does a pretty exceptional job of transcending its literary beginnings. (Tally this one up alongside Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, basically.) Creative changes are immediately apparent, though one would be hard-pressed not to expand on a literary figure whose sole feature was boyish spunk. Clearly a fish-out-of-water parable, free of condescenscion thankfully, Nancy Drew's outlook on old vs. new begins in the classroom, amusingly emphasizing her antiquatedness as one of those cretins who actually wants to learn and reciprocate enthusiasm at school. Fortunately for us, the film smartly demarcates the issue, carefully divulging that Nancy's overachieving doesn't stem from elitism; though her methods may be crafty at times, she never seems unusually resourceful or unusually intelligent - just unusually prepared. Again on the mark, writers Tiffany Paulsen and Andrew Fleming slyly bypass the old Nancy Drew's encompassing, you-go-girl confidence in favor of cheerful insecurity; Nancy's assuredness is unmistakable, but just as much so the accompanying image of her en route to Hollywood with bags in tow, her wheeled suitcase actually just a backpack precariously strapped to a wheeler - the joke is worth a chuckle, but more importantly it suggests that everyone has some sort of image they feel they must live up to, even kids as dead-set as Nancy. I'm pretty much prepared to take qualms about the narrative in stride; no doubt Nancy, like every other teen day-saver resides in a world of inadequate adults, but surely there's some slack when it results in scenes like Nancy investigating the set of a Bruce Willis 50's noir film, citing anachronisms left and right. That having been said, the mystery itself and the motivation behind it is disappointingly simple, merely a case of business greed, which means the entire ordeal plays second fiddle to Fleming's aimless assortment of ideas rather than domineering the film and reinforcing concept of obsolescence. Nevertheless, the film has the good sense to keep Nancy front and center, defending her at all costs, which might seem shady until you realize the point isn't to ham-fistedly promote old-timey tradition, but rather to explore Nancy's elusive connection to the past. It isn't by chance Nancy always seems distracted in the present (remarkably casual facing death threats and such!), and a third-act exchange nicely lets on that her sleuthing involves filling an emotional void, reconciling problems from the past to mend feelings in the present. The film comprehends Nancy's struggle to compartmentalize empathy as she does her meals or work tools, as evidenced by a scene where her attempts to rationalize the situation with her would-be beau come out in a confused jumble. There's even a wee bit of melancholy as the film toys with the antediluvian notions of neighborly trust, which makes sense given Nancy's incessant cheerfulness and overall obliviousness to verbal abuse is grounded in the principle everyone is inherently benevolent, and really only shaken when she sustains deliberate, personal attacks, by way of a gym-period practical joke - or, of course, getting shot at by crooks. Entertaining, adorable, and then some, though I'd quite like to figure out why an arbitrary salute to single parenting hijacked the ending; as far as I'm concerned, that's a mystery worth solving.

(Second Viewing Comments) Nudged the rating up slightly; ending didn't seem quite so garish this time around, especially when the whole ghastly single-parent thing was followed by a shot of Nancy in a solitary room watching a recap of the events on TV - the emphasis here is on distance with another twinge of melancholy, that Nancy's efforts to reunite Rachel Leigh Cook and family are performed with vicarious intent but are unable to serve as emotional convalescence. Instead her deeds are merely diverting, which explains the concluding talk about the thrill of mystery-solving rather than its results, adding another facet to the narrative - a snippet worthy of Memento, suggesting that people will choose plucky self-delusion in the face of tragedy before acceptance. Still a fairly plain movie, but I suppose it comes with the territory...

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