Toon Talk - From the Other Side: Nancy Drew
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(c) Warner Bros
While trying to update the character isn’t exactly a bad idea, the result (flatly directed by Andrew Fleming, from his rote script with Tiffany Paulsen) is a clumsy, predictable affair, more suitable as a TV after-school special even with the totally superfluous uncredited appearance by Bruce Willis (he must owe producer Jerry Weintraub a favor). The central mystery, one that has supposedly gone unsolved for decades, is not that difficult to untwine (especially when one has the law of movie coincidences on one’s side, as this movie has in spades). For example, the group of usual suspects comes to a grand total of two; discount the obvious “cheap scare�? red herring and you have the killer who couldn’t have been more clichéd if he had been the butler.
Livening up the proceedings is Josh Flitter (The Greatest Game Ever Played’s “easy-peasy�? Eddie) as Nancy’s pint-sized would-be paramour and Pat Carroll (Ursula herself) as a snoopy landlady. Also on hand are Chris Kattan and Adam Goldberg in some more head-scratching, “what-are-they-doing-in-this-movie?�? cameos.
The one true bright spot in the film is Nancy herself. Played by the young Miss Roberts (daughter of Oscar nominee Eric and niece of Oscar-winner Julia) with a grace and charm that could make her the “next�? Anne Hathaway, her Nancy embodies the role model that the character has always been. Too bad the movie that surrounds her doesn’t hold up to that legacy.
Toon Talk Rating: C-
 Blast from the Past Edition
In this ‘Toon Talk’ feature, I will briefly highlight a recommended film or DVD, outside of the Disney universe, of similar interest to the main subject. THE BRADY BUNCH MOVIE
1995 - Paramount Pictures
Proving that you can never keep old-fashioned wholesome family goodness down, the forever perky, forever permed, forever stuck in the 70’s Bradys splashed onto the big screen in this hilarious update that found them smack in the middle of the 90’s, a decade itself looking more and more remote. Director Betty Thomas lovingly sent up the beloved sitcom brood while also affirming that the seminal sentimentality that was a hallmark of the series is never out of place, even in today’s media-fed, pop culture-obsessed society. Starring Gary Cole, Shelly Long, Christine Taylor, Christopher Daniel Barnes (Prince Eric himself), Jennifer Elise Cox, Michael McKean and Jean Smart. DVD available from Paramount Home Video. Rated PG-13. |
Coming Soon:
- HSM
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TOON TALK AWARDS WATCH Congratulations to Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, winner of the MTV Movie Awards for Best Movie and Best Performance for Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. Pirates also won the Taurus World Stunt Award for Best Fight for the mill wheel swordfight sequence. Meanwhile, High School Musical’s Kenny Ortega won the ALMA Award for Outstanding Television Director. And don’t forget, the American Film Institute will unveil AFI’s 100 Years … 100 Movies: 10th Anniversary Edition this Wednesday, June 20, in a three-hour CBS television event. Tune in to see which of these nominated movies from Disney and its affiliates will make the final cut (Snow White, Fantasia and Pulp Fiction made the top 100 back in 1998):
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-- Kirby C. Holt
-- Logos by William C. Searcy, Magic Bear Graphics,
http://www.cafepress.com/MagicBear
Kirby is a lifelong Disney fan and film buff. He is also an avid list maker and chronic ellipsis user ...
Took Talk: Disney Film & Video Reviews by Kirby C. Holt is posted whenever there's something new to review.
The opinions expressed by our Kirby C. Holt, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future plans of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
-- Posted June 18, 2007