NANCY DREW
US, 2007, 99 minutes, Colour.
Emma Roberts, Josh Flitter, Rachel Leigh Cook, Max Thieriot, Tate Donovan, Barry Bostwick, Caroline Aaron, Laura Harring.
Directed by Andrew Fleming.
Nancy Drew, like her male counterparts, The Hardy Boys, comes from the 1930s when a series of small budget films were made with Bonita Granville. Now she is updated to 2007 with a contemporary look but a plot that would have been at home seventy years ago.
Nancy Drew is a teenage sleuth. As portrayed by Emma Roberts, she is good at her hobby and has the marked assurance of the professional. We see her in action at once as she confronts some thieves, helping them to give themselves up and to seek psychological counselling – she is that kind of precocious girl. She does not fall from the guttering of the local church because she has her sleuthing kit with her, which contains rope for descending buildings. Police, press, friends acclaim her, though her father (Tate Donovan) has his reservations.
When they visit California, Nancy promises her father not to sleuthe. Of course, she does. She has accepted rental of a house where a famous and glamorous movie star lived, disappeared and was murdered. This teenage Miss Marple (including her older style fashion and primness of manner) discovers the clues and the star’s daughter (Rachel Leigh Cook), exposes the murderer (who will not be a surprise) and even sets a fashion trend in trendy LA.
Old-fashioned story in new-fangled clothes – for teenage girls and their mothers (and long-suffering fathers and brothers).
1.The target audience? Girls? Boys? Adults?
2.A 30s heroine, American style, 30s-style stories – and transferred to the 21st century?
3.The New York settings, home? The contrast with Los Angeles? The look of the city, the mansion, school, the clothes, attitudes? The tour of Los Angeles, Hollywood? Grauman’s theatre? Hollywood Boulevard? Authentic, tone? Musical score and moods?
4.Nancy, her age, experience, the death of her mother, bonds with her father, her sleuthing, catching thieves, the opening, talking with the thieves, the psychological issues, their giving up? The church, on the roof, her fall, her kit, getting down? The papers and the reports, the police, her friends, father, Ned?
5.The decision to go to Los Angeles, her promise to her father, the farewell to Ned, the arrival, the house, the real estate agent? Her choice and not telling her father the reason? The tour, the tricks and the haunting?
6.The caretaker, his appearance, seeming sinister, the secret passages, suspicion, the truth about him, his final help, meeting his daughter?
7.The background of the 1980s murder, the newspapers, stories, Dehlia and her disappearance, reappearance, the photos, the mysterious man present, the letter Z and the letters, the palms and discovering the hotel, the hospital, giving the cake to the officer, getting the information about the agencies, reading the register, eliminating all the possibilities, discovering Jane Brighton?
8.Jane, the news about her mother, her child, the impact, changing attitude, her child being taken, becoming desperate, getting Nancy’s help, the issue of the will, the confrontation at the end, the money, the inheritance, setting up the home for unmarried mothers?
9.Nancy, at school, considered a geek, the girls and their clothes, her meeting Corky, the first aid trick, the kiss, her feeling humiliated? Yet her air of superiority? Deceiving her father about sleuthing? Going to the shop, the clothes, the irony of her being a trendsetter? Corky and his crush, helping with the investigation? Ned and his arrival, his suspicions, the party, his journey, her affection? Her father’s reaction to the party? The mystery – and Ned going back home?
10.Nancy’s father, not knowing what she was up to, the party, happy that she was socialising? His work as a lawyer, his jobs? The connection with Biedermeyer?
11.Nancy and the clues, the landlady, finding the letter in the book, finding Jane, hearing the voice about the will in the Chinese box, the group trying every box in the shop? The film and the clue, finding the will?
12.The thugs, the chase, her abduction, her skill in escaping, the car pursuit, the crash? Biedermeyer and his concern? The will, his threats?
13.Biedermeyer, his background, the connection, his signature? The photos? The confrontation, her taping him? His being arrested?
14.The happy ending – a 30s detective story, plot, in the 21st century – for an adolescent audience?
15.Nancy encountering the film crew, the impatience of the director, her discussions with Bruce Willis?
