subject: Ramona And Beezus Film Review Online [print this page] The Beezus and Ramona stories are for children, but parents remember them nostalgically when its time to read them to their girls. The books revolve around Beatrice (Beezus) and her 6 years younger sister Ramona. The books continue to be popular 60 years after the first edition because of their honest and humorous portrayal of family relationships, especially between sisters. Given the enduring popularity of Clearys novels it is surprising that it has taken this long to adapt it to film.
The title has been changed to Ramona and Beezus, but everything else stays pretty much true to the original series. Ramona (played to perfection by Joey King) is a nine year old female Dennis the Menace. With an imagination the size of the universe and a penchant for mischief to match, she is forever getting herself into situations that backfire. Ramona is basically a good girl, but her good intentions and rivalry with her older sister often get her into trouble. Her older, straight-A perfect sister is Beatrice (Beezus to Ramona since she cant properly pronounce Beatrice). Beezus is played by The Disney Channels Wizards of Waverly Places princess Selena Gomez. Other than maybe being a bit too model-beautiful, Gomez is well cast in the role. One of the biggest reasons this movie works is the amazing chemistry between Gomez and King. They are natural together on screen, and effectively portray sisters who under the surface really love each other. You can tell these two actresses really have a close bond off camera.
The movie takes place when Ramona is 9 years old, so events are taken mostly from Clearys later books (ie; Ramona and Her Father, Ramona and Her Mother, Ramona Quimby, Age 8, Ramona Forever, and Ramonas World.). Interestingly, the main plot is very timely, how Ramona and the Quimby family cope with the loss of the dads job. The mother (Bridget Moynahan) goes back to work, the dad (John Corbett) stays home with the kids and Ramona thinks up ways on how to help the family finances. Of course her ideas never seem to work out as planned, usually just causing more trouble.
One of the most impressive aspects of this movie is how the director Elizabeth Allen is able to show Ramonas huge and vivid imagination. For example when Ramona is daydreaming that she is dangling over a canyon while on a swing or flying into space, the movie uses amateurish looking stop-motion animation to show this is in the mind of a nine-year-old. Very impressive and effective.
The one area of this movie that can be criticized is its blatant attempt to appeal to audiences of all ages. In the books we are aware of the presence of adults such as Ramonas mom and dad, but they remain in the background. The real story is always about the relationship between the two sisters. However in this movie a prominent storyline has to do with the relationship between the girls Aunt Bea (another good performance by Ginnifer Goodwin) and an old boyfriend Hobart (Josh Duhamel) who suddenly returns to town. In the theatre where I was watching this movie the kids became noticeably inattentive each time this grown-up plot was dropped into the storyline. This was obviously a device added to appeal to adults, but all it really accomplished was to bring the main story to a grinding halt.
A special mention must be made about Sandra Oh, who plays Ramonas humorless, uptight third grade school teacher Mrs. Meacham. She expertly handles this role of the soft-centered instructor.
Overall, Ramona and Beezus is a good movie about how family love can overcome many obstacles. Children, especially young girls will love it.
by: joey martin
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