Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase

As a 43yo man I definitely do not belong in the demographic this movie is made for, but I actually liked reading Nancy Drew when I was young which is why when I saw this movie flicker by, I stopped, and watched it.

This is not great, not fantastic, nor amazing in any form or way. Directing not so great, light and effects need to be worked on, story is bland and very simple, there is very little to celebrate with this movie since it is basic and do not offer much comes to cinematography, great scenes or action.

Still, this is fun. This is very much watchable, and well worth a look. I enjoyed this movie. Not everything need to be perfect or MCU spectacular. You do not need Oscar level of acting to enjoy a simple, fun, basic movie about teens, a couple of mysteries set in a small city and all that comes with. And Sophia Lillis is a magnet, she will be a star, with those wonderful eyes; how can she not become one?

I give this movie a strong 6 or a weak 7, I will give it a 7 just because I am in a good mood.

If you have nothing else to do, I can definitely recommend this. Much better movie than Us, much better movie than Alita, much better movie than What Men Want, in fact this is probably my second favorite movie of 2019 so far - after Captain Marvel.

I watched this at home on BluRay from my public library. The CW network has a darker, young adult Nancy Drew weekly TV series so I watched this one to compare what is done with Nancy as a 16-yr-old vs a young adult.

In 1938 and 1939 four Nancy Drew movies were made, one of them had this same name. It involved a house that someone was trying to get the occupants, two old spinster sisters, to leave. Key to solving the mystery was a hidden staircase in the old house.

Cute freckled Sophia Lillis is Nancy Drew in this modern version. In the extras the actress herself calls this an origin story although that might not have been the intent. Her mother has died, she and her attorney dad move from Chicago to a fictional community, River Heights. There a company is trying to establish a railway line through the town and Nancy's dad is one of those fighting it for the sake of the community. That angers some who have a lot at stake financially and that causes the tension in the story. And a mystery for Nancy to solve.

So the story involves Nancy getting in trouble, enough so she has to do community service. In spite of that she still manages to work on solving the mystery and it does indeed involve the discovery of a hidden staircase in the home of an old grand aunt of one of her classmates. But the plot of this one is quite different from the 1939 movie of the same name.

Considering what it is, I found it to be suitably entertaining. At one point I was impressed that they actually broke into a lab and used chromatography to identify myristicin, a hallucinogenic chemical derived from nutmeg. The Nancy Drew of 1939 didn't have a skateboard, nor a cell phone, and didn't post things to social media. Nor did she have access to security video. A lot has changed in 80 years.

Young teens, that is. I wonder if young people read anymore, and if the ones that do ever read Nancy Drew books. Hard to tell if this movie will appeal to a large teen audience after "Captain Marvel" and numerous Batman films, but the story is good enough to hold the attention of kids who are not waiting for something to blow up.

Nutshell; Nancy is drawn into a mystery of a haunted house, owned by Linda Lavin. Aided by her 2 friends and a 'mean girl' they solve the problem, with a few object lessons about mean friends along the way. If you are over 21 the script is hard to endure but sufficient to hold the interest of a young audience. Nancy Drew as played by Sophia Lillis is adorable and appealing. I would recommend it to teens who are tired of superheroes, but with a caveat - it's not Fortnite.

7/10 - The website no longer prints my star rating.

Nancy Drew (Sophia Lillis) and her father Carson moved to the small town River Heights after the death of her mother. She is bitter at having left her friends in Chicago. She gets into trouble when she pranks annoying jock Derek who cyberbullied her friend Bess. She runs into Derek's girlfriend Helen Corning and her beloved aunt Flora (Linda Lavin). Flora's home has been haunted by ghosts from its past and nobody believes her except Nancy Drew. Meanwhile, Carson is fighting efforts to bring a train line into River Heights.

The story is a little old fashion that the hip scriptwriters have tried to update. The seams between the two do show. I wish they change train story. I can do without Nancy Drew riding a long skateboard or the truly ridiculous Derek. Can't he be a real villain rather than a silly one? It's like the movie is caught between a silly kiddie Disney channel movie and a grown up thriller. In addition, Nancy Drew needs a weapon; a stun gun or pepper spray. She's jumping into a scenario unarmed against a thug with a gun. It gets a bit too Home Alone for me to take seriously.

On the other hand, the girls have good chemistry. Sophia Lillis and Laura Wiggins are solid actors even if Laura is a tattooed 30 trying to pass for a young teen. It helps to have TV legend Linda Lavin. I like what she says about her best friend and the two girls coming together. The girls have the right attitude. The movie does have a few too many minor annoyances.

I didn't expect much from this movie going in, in that sense this movie didn't disappoint at all. If u would like to speak about flaws and weaknesses, I promise you there is a ton of them. But if you are planning to watch this movie after seeing trailer and expecting to be perfect, then you should blame yourself. Having mentioned much about the notions, lets analyse the movie strengths. Sophia lillis as Nancy drew is vibrant and funny. She is very good at keeping the mood light even in the tense scenes. There is an innocence in her acting. Laura wiggins plays the pretty friend as usual. Andrea anders, sam trammel doesn't have much screen space but they have supporting roles to sophia. Even though you pretty much know how its gonna pan out, this movie keeps you invested. Grab a popcorn and drink and if you plan to light hearted teen movie this movie won't make you regret it.