“Ramona and Beezus” is based on the book series by Beverly Cleary. I know I read these books when I was in elementary school, but I don’t really remember them much. I do remember that Ramona was a rambunctious little girl with a very active imagination.
Ramona Quimby (Joey King) is a creative little girl, who has an older sister Beatrice (Selena Gomez). (When Ramona was small, she couldn’t say Beatrice’s name, so she called her Beezus, which stuck as her nickname.) Ramona and Beezus also have a baby sister, Roberta (can you tell by the character’s names that these books were written in the 50s and 60s??). Ramona, Beezus, and Roberta live in Washington with their parents Robert (John Corbett) and Dorothy (Bridget Moynahan). Also part of the family is Aunt Bea (Ginnifer Goodwin), whose high-school boyfriend Hobart (Josh Duhamel) is back in town and wants to get back together with Bea.
Everything is peachy keen in the Quimby house, until Mr. Quimby loses his job and the family faces the possibility of losing their home, forcing them to move to another town. Ramona comes up with some fantastic yet harebrained ideas to try to save their house, including selling delicious lemonade, offering delicious car washes (that of course, ends in disaster), and auditioning for a commercial.
Even though she means well, Ramona is always in trouble in school. Mrs. Meacham (Sandra Oh) is her exasperated teacher who has to deal with Ramona and her far-fetched ideas. I’ve got to give Ramona credit, she tries really hard!
What I liked: when Ramona would imagine fantastic things in her mind, we the viewers saw them on the movie screen. I thought that was a nice visual touch. The story flowed well, and I have no complaints about the dialogue or the acting.
What I didn’t like: overall, the movie was kind of hokey, but that’s to be expected. In this day and age, it was kind of unusual but nice to see a nuclear family doing family things with their neighbors!! Anyway, there’s nothing wrong with a happy ending, is there??
Warning: there was one sad part. Parents may have to explain the concept of “pet heaven” to their children after watching this movie. I thought that part of the movie was handled well though. The girls dealt with it and accepted it.
I thought for the lead role, Joey King’s performance was more than decent. A few scenes were just so-so but overall she gave a pretty strong performance. I think she has potential. I enjoyed the interaction between the sisters. I think both actresses performed those scenes well.
“Ramona and Beezus” isn’t the greatest flick ever, but it certainly isn’t the worst. Don’t go to the theatre expecting much and you will enjoy it for what it is.
