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Ramona And Beezus will enchant the 'tween girl audience for whom it was created.
This movie version of the adventures of Ramona -- accident-prone pesky little sister and highly imaginative school outsider -- is delightful, and mostly thanks to child actor Joey King. She is a perfect Ramona.
There will be grousing, no doubt, from diehard fans of the printed word and the Beverly Cleary books on which Ramona And Beezus is based, but this unusually sweet-natured film should please anyone tired of the current comic book/frantic effects/3D blight in children's movies.
Ramona is introduced as she goes hand over hand on a jungle gym at school, an activity that prompts one of her flights of imagination. She sees herself hanging over a dangerous precipice in one of the cartoon-ish, brightly coloured sequences sprinkled through the story that are designed to illustrate the world as a highly creative nine year old might see it. Ramona ends up tangled in the jungle gym; she's rescued by her frosty teacher, Mrs. Meacham (Sandra Oh), who is obviously at the end of her rope with Ramona.
Although she drives her big sister Beezus (Selena Gomez) crazy, Ramona and Beezus obviously love and support each other ... when they aren't fighting. The two girls have to stick together when Dad (John Corbett) loses his job. Comedy stems from Ramona's attempts to earn money for the family -- she opens a lemonade stand and a car-wash, with disastrous results.
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Tragedy is rooted in the girls' fears for their future, the insecurity of an unemployed dad and their astonishment at hearing their parents fighting as the stress increases every day. Their house is even put up for sale, which causes Ramona to imagine her version of the expression, "Letting the bank take the house."
All's well that ends well, of course, and Dad finds a job -- but in Ramona And Beezus, the adults turn out to be competent (a welcome change from most children's movies).
Besides her immediate family and the long-suffering Mrs. Meacham, Ramona also interacts with her aunt (Ginnifer Goodwin) and her aunt's old boyfriend, who happens to be Ramona's neighbour (Josh Duhamel). That's a less interesting subplot, but it allows for a water fight and an all-important fancy dresses scene for Joey King and Selena Gomez.
The ridiculously cute Gomez is understated and funny as big sister Beezus; the cast includes Bridget Moynahan, Janet Wright and Hutch Dano.
Ramona says bad words (guts!) squishes toothpaste with ferocity and interferes with her big sister's romantic life. She's a klutz who throws up at school, falls over at an audition and gets egg in her hair before an all-important photo, and Joey King's performance ensures that Ramona is one of the most endearing screen characters extant.
Ramona and Beezus, which was shot in British Columbia, might even inspire the uninitiated to run out and get a Beverly Cleary book of their own. Drop everything and read, remember?
(This film is rated G)
liz.braun@sunmedia.ca