Ramona and Beezus Film Review

Ramona and Beezus is the perfect film for all ages. Based around the Ramona series by Beverly Cleary and directed by Elizabeth Allen, it followsthe energetic, imaginative and accident-prone nine year old Ramona Quimby (Joey King) and her overachieving big sister Beezus( Selena Gomez) through their fights and make ups. The plot revolves around Ramona and Beezus’ father (John Corbett) losing his job and the family running into money problems, which may unfortunately relate to many families at this time, however it tries to show the brighter side to this situation. This causes Ramona to try and do everything she can to try and save the family home, which involves her getting into a lot of mischief along the way.

I think Gomez and King appear like perfect sisters; you believe their fights and love their make ups. Newcomer Joey King carries the film perfectly and sellsRamona's particular mix of earnestness and mischievousness flawlessly. You always believe her when she says she's sorry for her latest misadventure, even though you know another one is just around the corner. King manages to turn, in seconds, from infectious grinning to tear- jerking emotion while acting out some of the busy scenes which include- losing a pet, throwing up at school and moving house all squeezed into 104 minutes. In Cleary’s books Beezus is portrayed as image conscious, however Gomez may be too pretty to get this across to the audience well enough and I think Allen lacks the ability to capture the fact that Ramona acts up the way she does (emptying a full tube of toothpaste into the sink) because she is frustrated at being the middle child, she is an underachiever compared to Beezus and feels like she doesn’t get enough attention because of her baby sister Roberta (twins Aila McCubbing and Zanti McCubbing.)

There are also scenes in the film for the older audiences which include Ramona and Beezus’ aunt Bea (Ginnifer Goodwin) flirting on her old flame, Hobart, (Josh Duhamel.) There are also scenes that include Beezus trying to impress her long-term friend, Henry Huggins, (Hutch Dano), which doesn’t go well when she drinks some lemonade with a wasp in it and ends up spitting it all over Henry.

Although I enjoyed the whole film I do think that a film series may have suited the books better to show the different adventures in more detail, but instead screenwriter Laurie Clark and Nick Pustay have picked memorable moments from Cleary’s eight book series and fashioned them into one single film. In my opinion Clark and Pustay have picked moments that show Ramona’s sense of imaginatively seamlessly with the animated daydream sequences which transport the audience into her world and allows all ages to feel like and child again.

I would recommend this film to families and children aged 6-13.

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Ellie X

The Last Song Film Review

The Last Song is the perfect film for teens, starring Disney princess Miley Cyrus and Australian heartthrob Liam Hemsworth it is bound to attract a wide viewing. Based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, and directed by Julie Anne Robinson, it follows Ronnie Miller (Miley Cyrus) as she and her brother, Jonah Miller (Bobby Coleman), stay at their fathers’ beach house years after their parents’ divorce.  Ronnie is very bitter about their parents’ divorce and blames her dad, Steve (Greg Kinnear), barely able to tolerate her father’s presence she seeks to avoid it by going down to the beach. It is here where she meets Will (Liam Hemsworth), a seemingly normal guy who works in a garage and volunteers at the aquarium, he turns out to be a rich boy who also has family problems of his own.

Cyrus is miles away from her clean Disney image on Hannah Montana, playing an indie bad tempered teenage girl and in my opinion she seems to still think she is playing a girl with a double personality, she is either a pouting stroppy brat or a loving caring daughter and sister, there is no middle emotional bridge. However Cyrus has a charming and energetic screen presence and is more than capable of becoming an adult movie star. Twelve year old Bobby Coleman although relatively new to the industry he does an amazing job at playing the smart young brother, he makes you laugh, smile and cry.  Coleman and Cyrus present a believable brother-sister relationship and make us think that they really do love each other.

 

Kinnear is an amazing addition to the film and although he has a relatively small part at the beginning there is something in his eyes that makes you believe something deeper is going on. For the most part he waiting for Ronnie to finish her sulks and rebellious behaviour and become the caring, loving daughter he knows he can be. He gets a bigger part when he collapses on the beach and we find out he has terminal cancer his performance in the later scenes brings the whole cinema to tears and his amazing soulful performance has a lot to do with his acting through his eyes.

The Last Song is action packed, maybe a little to action packed? Ronnie used to be a world class pianist, but now does not like to play the Piano at all. She was accepted into Julliard, despite not playing since she was seven?  Her and Will, when they are speaking, have to look after turtle eggs and she has to keep her new friend from the town thug. This film, however, is not without Miley’s onscreen singing in which Will answers “Wow, you can sing.” Julie Anne Robinson amazingly manages to prevent Ronnie and Will’s love scenes, which include calving their name into a tree and swimming in the aquarium, from becoming too sickly. Although only having a tiny singing part in the movie she is on the soundtrack more and does an amazing job singing “The Last Song.”

Thank you for reading, please follow me on twitter @elliekay96

Ellie Kay