Ramona and Beezus: a Review

[puppetmaker]

I read the Henry Huggins books when I was a kid. Most of the Ramona books didn’t come out until I was past that reading level but I think my younger brother and sister did read them. I really enjoyed those books and how they dealt with issues that kids worry about in a rather frank manner.

Yesterday I took Caroline and Ariel to see the film based on the book Beezus and Ramona along with some of the stuff that happened in the other books as well. I have not seen such a delightful family film in a long time. Even though it is rated G, it doesn’t dumb down the issues that Ramona has to deal with including job loss, pet loss (warning to parents they deal with picky-picky’s death quite frankly and realistically. Caroline was in tears for about 5 minutes until I could assure her that the cat playing Picky Picky was still alive), relatives, dealing with life at the age of 9, sibling rivalry, and being different from the rest of the pack.

Joey King does a wonderful job as Ramona. I plan to follow her career because she has that spark and acting chops that can’t be taught. You are right there with her every step of the way. From portraying Ramona’s vast imagination to dealing with change in the character’s life, Ms. King doesn’t miss a beat. Selena Gomez does a great job as the older sister who loves her sisters but can’t stand their behavior at times. Also the romance between Beezus and Henry is handled so well and so innocently it is fun to watch.

The whole cast has the characters down and makes the story very believable. And both the director and the writers managed to avoid taking the maudlin or overly sweet path that would have kill this film. As a viewer, you know people just like these characters in your life and you can relate to the sorrows and triumphs of the Quimby Family.

I highly recommend this film to anyone who is a fan of the Beverly Cleary books because they did manage to translate from page to screen beautifully. This is also a good family movie especially for sisters. I wish it had done better that the box office this weekend. We ended up having to go a bit off the beaten path to find a theater that was showing it which is a shame since it is a film that needs to be seen if for no other reason to show others what is possible when bringing modern children’s books to the screen without totally changing them so all that is left is the title and some of the character names.

I am grateful that I took the time to see this film.

Comments

[wherdafux-d-cat.livejournal.com]

Oh I'm so glad to hear this, especially from someone generally around my age. I think we hold the books in a different light than do people who started reading them some years after they were written. Not to mention we didn't grow up with the idea (assumption?) that books and such from our childhood would be mercilessly ravaged and rendered unrecognizable by movies sooner or later. I was so surprised the summer I read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! I kept wondering, 'Why didn't they make the movie like this? Why did they leave this part out? Why did they change this to that? It's so much better in the book!'