To properly read a Nancy Drew book, you need to be under the covers with a flashlight. It also helps to be a slightly geeky pre- pubescent girl, though it’s not required.

To properly view the Nancy Drew movie, it’s starting to sound like you have to be completely unfamiliar with the books. Which is really a shame.

As a confirmed bibliophile, I’m always a little sad when a book or series I love is made into a film. There’s just no way—no matter how much you spend on special effects or big-name Hollywood types—that what appears on the screen is going to mesh with what legions of people have been (individually) picturing in their heads for years. Part of the lure of reading is that it allows the unfolding of a story in the mind’s eye. Movies are about spoon-feeding, and sometimes that’s a great experience and other times it can tarnish a good story beyond recognition.

The issue with Nancy Drew, though, is that the critics can’t seem to agree upon what’s happening here. As of this writing, the critics at Rotten Tomatoes are evenly split; half think the movie is adorable, half think it’s an embarrassment to the literary legend.

Half of me wants to take my daughter to see it, and half of me is afraid that I’ll end up wishing I’d never laid eyes on this “updated” version. Perhaps I should wait out this opening weekend and follow the clues to the movie’s true disposition before making a decision. You know, sleuth out the reaction of other moms in creative ways… like searching their purses for ticket stubs and seeing if they’re stained with butter from popcorn (lousy movie, needed lots of snack diversion) or if they’re pristine and set aside to save (great movie, save the stub as memorabilia).

I think Nancy would approve.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 15th, 2007 at 6:24 am and is filed under Movies, Retro. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.