A movie version of Nancy Drew? Hypers!

Actually, there have been Nancy Drew movies since the late 1930s, almost as long as there have been books about the teenage sleuth.

A generation ago, any attempt to take Nancy off the page was greeted with alarm by purists, but maybe children don't read that much anymore. Or maybe books have to come with a toy and a small fries these days? We don't know. We know the Nancy Drew movie is very entertaining. We know that much.

Emma Roberts stars as Nancy Drew, girl sleuth. Nancy still lives with her father, attorney Carson Drew, and hangs with her friends George and Bess, but the sleepy hamlet of River Heights is swapped for Los Angeles when Nancy and her dad make a temporary move. They're renting a house in Hollywood that has a mystery attached to it -- natch.

The house belonged to the late Dehlia Draycott (Laura Harring), an actress whose death is still shrouded in mystery. Nancy sets to work looking for clues in a huge old house that has secret passageways and a creepy caretaker. The story is full of danger and adventure, but that's not really where the action is in Nancy Drew, no.

The action is at school. All the other kids think Nancy is a great, big, throwback dork. While they text-message day and night, wax destructive and bitch, Nancy makes eye contact, shows respect to adults, wears modest clothing and has perfect manners. She always tries to do the right thing. She parties like it's 1959.

The other kids think she's a geek, but she doesn't change. They do. That's the element that will make adults everywhere happy to see this movie -- the entire moral code of your mom's era distilled into a firm handshake and a Peter Pan collar.

Oh, never mind.

Nancy Drew mocks L.A. and the movie culture and even includes a cameo from Bruce Willis, about as 'inside' as you can get. The script is funny and charming and cute, and so is Emma Roberts. Helping her along are Max Thieriot as Nancy's boyfriend, Ned Nickerson, and Josh Flitter as Corky, her sidekick in L.A. Also in the cast are Rachael Leigh Cook and Barry Bostwick.

Nancy Drew respects the original sleuth -- right down to her little blue roadster -- but ties the story to the present and to the glitz of movieland.

Anyone tired of taking their children to summer blockbusters (or "Big Tired Crap Part III" as they're referred to 'round here) will be happy to have a look at Nancy Drew.

(This film is rated PG)
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