The movie opens up with Nancy solving the standard River Heights mystery. It serves to introduce this Nancy to the audience in a rather comical fashion, all but screaming: Nancy Drew, super sleuth with everything from one of Hannah's lemon bars to basic rapelling equipment on hand. The whole crew make a short appearance, but sadly, Ned is the only one to be seen for the rest of the movie, while Bess and George disappear completely. You also get a look at Nancy's convertible, a blue 1960 Nash Metropolitan convertible. Immediate complications, Carson makes Nancy promise him not to sleuth anymore, at least while they're in California.
The first ten minutes of the movie nail home the point fast: Nancy is a slightly short teen detective who acts and dresses old fashioned, at one point even telling Ned that the movie actress is "before your time." Of course, once Nancy hits California, this creates problems. For Nancy it means having a hard time with the 'normal kids' in her new school. For viewers who have read any of the books, it means screaming out loud "This is not Nancy!". Of course, they're all dead right, Nancy always moved with the times, whether that meant a change of dress in the 50s or getting a cell phone for the 2000s. What the movie attempts to show you is a classic Nancy from small little River Heights (time frozen town?) who has been catapulted straight into modern day LA. If you can get over that, or at least make light of it, you'll probably enjoy the rest movie. If your having trouble with it, or the fact the Hannah has a thick accent, the rest of the movie is gonna be pretty hard to swallow.
In California, Nancy settles into Dehlia Draycott's estate, despite Carson's inclination towards just going to the Four Seasons after Nancy hears someone creeping around the house. The mystery surrounds the disappearance, reappearance, and then death of Dehlia, a famous actress approximately 20 years ago. It's not the most original plot, or the most used, so it works. Of course, since Nancy is no longer sleuthing, all this doesn't matter. ^.~
Meanwhile, Nancy makes a splash at her new school, by being 'Pretty Much Amazing'. Two girls, Inga and Trish, and Inga's brother Corky take main stage by initially making fun of Nancy, but eventually becoming her friends.
Of course, Nancy's sleuthing instincts can't be suppressed for long, and the mystery comes full force, complete with murder attempts, hidden passageways, a car chase (in which Nancy insists on driving the speed limit ^.~), and a kidnapping.
Mid-case, Ned drives Nancy's car to California for a short vacation. The relationship between Ned and Nancy is awkward, specially with Corky around. But it gives the rest of us laughs, and he manages to help with the case.
In the end, Nancy manages to solve the case, find Dehlia's long lost will, help Dehlia's daughter Jane, tell her father that she's snooping, and patch things up with Ned back in River Heights. At the end, another case is hinted at, and thus continues the never ending cycle of mystery. ^.^
The good: The dialogue and acting is well done, with occasional moments of brilliance. One thing I noticed is the music. In itself, it's nothing special, mostly standard teen pop. But it fits the movie fantastically. This applies to the opening and closing credits, with classic Nancy Drew images customized with Emma Roberts while Flunk's version of 'Blue Monday' is played. Later, the tune returns as Nancy returns to sleuthing.
The bad: Clichés are common, as are plot holes. But it many ways it simply follows the path of the books.
A sequel?: Back in 2007, when the movie was released, a sequel was promised, and Emma Roberts had signed on for one. Now, almost five years later, there hasn't been any more info on it. The movie wasn't a big success, so it's likely that Warner Brothers decided to just cut their loses.
Overall: it's not a complete loss, and if you can keep from taking it too seriously, it's pretty enjoyable. You may not watch it more than once, but once isn't a waste of time, even if it isn't your thing.
Cou
