HARRIET THE SPY
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1996 Michael John Legeros
(Paramount)
Directed by Bronwen Hughes
Written by Theresa Rebeck and Douglas Petrie, based on the novel by
Louise Fitzhugh
Cast Michelle Trachtenberg, Vanessa Lee Chester, Gregory
Smith, Charlotte Sullivan, Robert Joy, J. Smith-Cameron,
Rosie O'Donnell
MPAA Rating "PG"
Running Time 101 minutes
Reviewed at The Carmike 7, Raleigh, NC (10JUL96)
==
Nickelodeon's first foray into feature filmmaking is an overlong kiddie drama that stars Michelle Trachtenberg as a precocious sixth- grader and self-proclaimed spy. Her afternoons are spent sneaking around and spying on people. She writes down everything she sees in a private notebook, which later falls into the hands of her classmates with predictably disastrous results. The story, adapted from the classic children's book by Louise Fitzhugh, plays like a pre-teen version of WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE. They act cruel, she acts crueler, and then everyone goes off to apologize and live happily ever after. Unlike Dawn Weiner, the central character from DOLLHOUSE, Harriet also gets to exact revenge on her classmates. However, this being a movie intended for kids, she must be taught a lesson and doesn't get to savor the pleasures of being mean. Too bad she can't get back at her busy parents, who have long-since delegated the responsibility of raising her to a live-in nanny. Now *that* could be considered cruel.
Grade: C+
--
Mike Legeros - Raleigh, NC
legeros@nando.net (h) - legeros@unx.sas.com (w)
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