Customer Reviews
FASHION STYLE MYSTERY ORGNASTION.... THAT'S NANCY FOR YOU!!!! - By: S. Arden, 20 Jul 2008 
This story is a teen classic basicly filled with everything if you want to know, for a girl that is! ...fashion,style,mystery,orgnisation,the villians,the friends & much more.
Nancy fills the story to top to bottom. The outline of the story is she is heading off for a hoilday with her dad(as her mums died) which they rent & Nancy picks the house, & of course, knowing her it's one with a years ago death & mystery! What's a girl to do -investergate.
Years & years ago their lived a famous actress "Dehlia Dreycott", who died by someone else's doing who was found in the pool. That was the same house Nancy's in. Ohhhhhhhhhh.
It's strange & as Nancy's a star & has worked out many other cases will she work this one out. A tough challlenge huh.
She finds clues, puts them together like a puzzle & she has a story. Of course the story would be nothing without her friends helping.
I reallly ennjoyed this movie & if you get it I hope you get it too.In some places it gets scary but it's a natural plot line twist. It's a story for the whole family. Enjoy!!!!
A Great Movie Translation of the Books - By: Mark Baker, 13 Mar 2008 
Nancy Drew (Emma Roberts) is the best detective in Riverheights. There is no case she can't solve. And, thanks to her detective kit, she's ready for anything.
Her dad, lawyer Carson (Tate Donovan), has a temporary assignment in Los Angeles, & the teenager gets to go along. In fact, Carson let her pick out the house they are renting. Naturallly, Nancy picked one with a mystery. Seems 25 years ago, actress Dehlia Draycott disappeared for five months. Then, just a few days after she came back, she was found dead in her pool. Her murder was never solved.
Unfortunately, just before the trip, Carson makes Nancy promise to stop sleuthing. And Nancy reallly does try to live up to her word. But when she begins stumbling on clues to what happened in the past, she just can't stop thinking about them. Where will the trail lead? Will Nancy solve the old crime? Or will she keep her word to her father & work toward becoming a normal teen?
Warning: The following paragraph was written by an obsessive book person. Let's start by getting some stuff of my chest. Why were Bess & George reduced to cameos? They are an important part of the books. The fact that Nancy's housekeeper Hannah only had a cameo didn't bother me too much since she often got little more then that in the books. At least Ned (Max Thieriot) got a bit more of a role, showing up on Los Angeles for a while. And, I did enjoy seeing Nancy's car (a roadster). I just wish they had included those other characters more.
Okay, now we can review this movie as it is.
And it's a surprisingly decent movie. The mystery is well done with plenty of clues being dropped along the way. I figured a couple things out before Nancy, but only a few minutes before. The plot & danger was perfectly in keeping with the things Nancy faced in the books, so fans of the series will know what to expect.
The movie did provide plenty of laughs along with the danger. Nancy views the world differently then everyone else, & many of the laughs are at this culture clash. In fact, my only real complaint is the uneven tone they use with Nancy. Most of the time, the movie sets her up as someone to look up to. Occasionallly, her character is the butt of the joke, however. That unevenness was weird for me. Granted, her character is ripe for parodying; I just wish the movie could have decided whether it was going to mock or praise her.
There's also a plot point that bothers me. Just how long were Nancy & Carson in Los Angeles? It seemed like only three weeks or so, yet Nancy was enrolled in school. It seemed like more trouble then it was worth. But that's a minor point
Not surprisingly, this movie aims at pre-teen girls, the usual reader of the books. With a bit of light romance with Ned (they're just friends at the beginning) & some fun with fashion, I think they will love it.
Yes, I have some quibbles, but the movie is basicallly good. The target audience will love it, & the rest of the family will find it diverting.
