They Got Ralph, But Not His Motorcycle
My favorite Beverly Cleary books growing up were The Mouse and the Motorcycle sagas. I loved them dearly. Pb-pb-b-b-b!
But I can understand folks preferring the Henry Huggins books.
What I never could tolerate, however, were the folks who read the Ramona books. At the time, I thought that they all had cooties.
Recently at the dollar theater I watched Ramona and Beezus, the movie. It was very enjoyable. Days later, it was still sticking with me, so I feel like I really got my dollar’s worth.
The gal playing Ramona is perfect. Beezus is the gal from Waverly Place. She’s fine too and definitely holds her own. John Corbett is dad, the other familiar face for me. I usually find him to be a disappointment, not quite ever living up to the potential we first saw in him back in Cicely, Alaska. But this time his magic is there for me again. Oh, and Sandra Oh plays a mean teacher. She plays mean good. I mean well. Oh well.
It’s kinda realistic for a kid’s show. I like that. It’s free of the usual clichés. I really like that. There’s a lot of plot happening, and it’s all kind of familiar, and yet the movie feels fresh. I think that’s because it’s all about the characters. It’s not about what happens, it’s about who they are and how they see things.
I like this film a lot. Give it a chance if you just want to watch a nice thoughtful movie.
