Movie Review: Ramona and Beezus

I can remember reading some, if not all, of the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary when I was in grade school. However, when this movie came out in theaters, I would've been hard pressed to tell you what they were about—except that Ramona was a trouble-prone little girl, her older sister Beezus [1] was obnoxious, and at some point Ramona emptied a tube of toothpaste into the sink. It's too bad that Ramona often gets in trouble for things that aren't her fault.

My verdict: The acting is passable.[2] The actress who portrays Ramona usually does a good job of portraying a fun-loving child who hasn't quite figured out how to control herself, just yet. The special effects are rather cheesy, but that didn't bother me since this is a movie for children. The resolutions of the two story arcs (Aunt B's ex-boyfriend and Dad's unemployment) are satisfying. I could probably be persuaded to let my children watch this.

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Notes:

[1] The question isn't why parents would adopt the nickname Beezus for the older daughter based on the younger's inability to pronounce it, but why they would name a daughter Beatrice in the first place. And naming a child Ramona (the feminine version of the Spanish name Ramón) is just unfathomable.

[2] It took Leann and me a long time (and a visit to IMDB) to figure out where we'd seen the Dad before—he's the main character's boyfriend on My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

Image attributions:

Watercolor Set is by REL Waldman, available at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ariels_photos/4196603186/.