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Title: Ramona and Beezus
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| CONSUMER ADVICE |
Parents, there is nothing objectional in this film. Recommended for all ages. |
Sometimes I get into discussions with various older people I know and they constantly wonder why Hollywood doesn’t make movies like they used to. Movies that were clean. Fun. Suitable for all members of the family but not overtly dumb either. I suspect that when they talk about movies like this then movies like “Ramona and Beezus” were the kind of films they had in mind. Based off the popular “Ramona” children’s book series, the movie revolves around the title character and her wacky home based adventures. Although I say wacky only figuratively because the movie is actually fairly serious for a movie geared towards children. The story: Ramona (Joey King) is the young girl with an overactive imagination who seems to cause trouble all the time.
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She explains her frustrations to a family member by pointing out when she spills food dad punishes her, but when her six-month old sister puts apple sauce on her head her dad reaches for the camera. Though she feels underappreciated many people in the neighborhood actually like her, and the movie cleverly gives us her point of view on many occasions so we can see how she views the world with her imagination. Bad news strikes though when her dad Bob (John Corbett) comes home one day with the bad news that he’s been laid off work. The recession seems to be everywhere these days, even in children films. But with a little optimism can Ramona save the families house?
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I won’t spoil anything other then to say things sort of all work out in a strange way that is different then what you might expect. Don’t worry: I’ll let you re-read that previous sentence again. What works about “Ramona and Beezus” is that it’s a simple story yet it’s universal. Yes there are many cute moments to be found for the kids, but the adults get an equally interesting story underneath the simplicity. Being older I appreciated the courage the film makers had to having the dad put on a happy face on a bleak situation only to end the day going into his room and stressing with his wife over their ability to pay the bills. The movie also deals with Ramona and her sister Beezus (Selena Gomez) growing apart.
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Once inseparable age has forced the two into different lifestyles. Although this is one of the storylines in the movie I sort of object to Beezus get upgrading to a main character who shares the title with Ramona. Her part is small at best and appears to only be highlighted because she’s played by a Disney Channel star. It’s a minor quibble, but it’s funny how the title alone completely distracted me as to what this movie was REALLY going to be about! I want to stress though that this is not a downer of a film. It’s largely fun and whimsical. It’s sort of brilliant that the movie is as cheerful as it is while this depressing situation weighs down on the characters.
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What director Elizabeth Allen has done is made a safe family film that has an adult undercurrent that is not particularly noticeable, but it’s there none-the-less. Not all the jokes work and the movie is still primarily concerned with being wholesome entertainment. But there are no fart jokes. Very little disrespectful attitudes. The movie is sugar sweet. But darn it, the movie has something to SAY! These are the family films that reassure me that the good family film is not dead. Considering the competition in the theaters I sort of fear “Ramona and Beezus” will get lost in the shuffle, but this strikes me as a sleeper hit that will get more popular once the BluRay is released. Either way it’s a nice surprise and easy to recommend if you like this sort of thing.
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