STUDIO: Warner Brothers
RELEASE DATE: March 11th, 2008
STARRING: Emma Roberts, Josh Flitter, Max Thierot, Rachael Leigh Cook, and Tate Donovan
WRITTEN BY: Andrew Fleming and Tiffany Paulsen
DIRECTED BY: Andrew Fleming
FEATURES: "Nancy Drew: Kids at Work": Emma Roberts and Friends Up Close and Personal
Gag Reel
Joanna "Pretty Much Amazing" Music Video
Mini-Featurette Gallery: Cool Scenes with the Cast and Crew

Who was Nancy Drew made for? Honestly, even though many of us may have grown up on the adventures of the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, most pre-teens nowadays are much more interested in the latest VH1 reality series than the intrepid young detective. Nancy Drew might have worked as nostalgia or even as a period piece, but by trying to drag this classic heroine into the new millennium and make her relevant again, the movie version of these classic books backfires. In literature, Nancy Drew was a vibrant heroine who taught young girls that they could be just as intellectual as their male counterparts. It didn't always take a man to save the day. Sometimes it took a young woman. It's not that the idea of gender equality isn't still an important one to teach young adults, but Nancy Drew doesn't seem to have the cultural impact she once did and the movie doesn't help. Is it social satire a la Clueless? A teen girl movie like the work of Amanda Bynes or the early days of LiLo? A straight-up mystery? None of the above? It's stuck between genres and styles and, therefore, is likely to not be much to anybody.

Emma Roberts, the daughter of Eric Roberts and niece of Julia Roberts, is the charming saving grace of Nancy Drew and the main reason a few critics gave the film a pass in theaters. She has the Roberts screen presence and could easily turn into a star, using a young adult movie like this one to launch herself into bigger and better projects. Emma plays Nancy, who moves to Los Angeles with her father (Tate Donovan) and happens to live in the house of a murdered movie star, Dehlia Draycott (Laura Harring). Nancy has been forbidden to do any more sleuthing - it can often get her into trouble beyond her years, like hostage situations - but she can't help herself, living in the setting for one of Hollywood's biggest unsolved mysteries. She finds Dehlia's daughter (Rachael Leigh Cook) and discovers that this single mother is the true beneficiary of a will that has conveniently disappeared. The mystery is, of course, solved, and a famous friend of the Roberts' family even shows up for a cameo.

It must be recognized that Nancy Drew is not made for me. It's made for girls less than half my age and they're likely to enjoy it more than me if they can tear themselves away from MTV's My Sweet Sixteen. But, even with that being said, I can recognize the charms and wit of movies made for other demographics like all the Pixar movies or even well-made pre-teen movies like the Lohan remake of Freaky Friday. Is it because Nancy Drew makes so little effort to move beyond its target audience? Perhaps, but I'm not convinced that even the few girls out there still reading the Drew books will be thoroughly entertained. There's just not enough to it. There are far worse movies made for teenage girls - most of them insult their intelligence and Nancy Drew never does that, which should be commended - but with so many alternatives in today's market, this poor girl just doesn't stand out like she used to.

The DVD treatment for Nancy Drew doesn't help the lackluster, average taste left by the movie. The picture is below average for the usually stellar Warner Brothers - some of the night scenes are noticeably grainy - and the audio is similarly middle-of-the-road. And the extras are somewhat shameful. This movie has been out of theaters for nine months and all Warner Brothers had the time to assemble were a collection of extras that totals 23 minutes? There are several featurettes that add up to about 18 minutes, a 2-minute gag reel, and a 3-minute music video. In every way, movie and DVD, the legend of Nancy Drew deserved better.