HARRIET THE SPY
A film review by L. O'Connor
Copyright 1996 L. O'Connor
I had high expectations of director Bronwen Hughes, having read Louise Fitzhugh's quirky, insightful children's book no fewer than twenty-six times since the age of eight. The book, published in 1964, bears these irresistible words: "The zany adventures of a child spy." Director Hughes, producer Marykay Powell, and the screen writers do not disappoint: the film is refreshingly imaginative and sensitive, from casting to sound- track to characterisation. Just as author Fitzhugh credits her young readers with intelligence, Hughes presents us with a fully believable Harriet. Eleven-year-old Michelle Trachtenberg is an intense, bright-eyed, intelligent young actor with a wide experssive range and an arresting credibility.
Harriet is in Grade 5 or 6 and lives in New York City, the only child of uninvolved parents, whose true caregiver is her nanny, Golly (Rosie O'Donnell). Golly's function is more that of a mentor, and behind her stern exterior we know immediately that she takes Harriet's individuality and ambition to become a writer seriously.
Nothing Harriet sees goes unnoticed -- or unrecorded in her spy notebook, marked "PRIVATE" -- from thoughtful musings on the characters and antics of her New York neighbourhood (the movie was filmed in Toronto, quite convincingly) to scathingly accurate commentaries on her classmates, friends, family, neighbours and teachers. The singular child spy has two remarkable friends: Sport (Gregory Smith), who at age eleven is the capable caretaker of his "starving artist" writer father, and Janie (Vanessa Lee Chester), a young Marie Curie. But the most influential person in Harriet's life -- and Harriet knows it -- is certainly Golly, who sees to it that Harriet is given ample opportunity to explore, observe, and record. Golly is Harriet's source of wisdom and encouragement, and delivers pithy one-liners: "A good spy never gets caught." "You're an individual, and that makes people nervous." When Harriet's parents fire Golly, Harriet is on her own, and pursues her "spy route" with redoubled energy.
Harriet's spy route continues to our delight (with an unforgettable cameo appearance by Eartha Kitt) until, one day, Harriet's secret notebook is found by the hateful Marion Hawthorne, and each classmate finds himself or herself skewered in writing by Harriet's "dossiers", even Sport and Janie, who too turn against Harriet in an affecting scene. Even the quality of light in the film changes as Harriet's life is turned upside down. Harriet, always an outsider, now finds herself completely shunned. She turns inward again; What would Golly say?
Harriet's classmates form a "Spy Catchers' Club" to torment Harriet and follow her on her spy route, and Harriet finally retaliates by targeting each classmate and exposing or using a conceit or a vulnerability: she knows all, because she has observed them all. Hostilities escalate -- director Hughes "tells it like it is" in the often-ruthless world of children -- and Harriet's frantic parents finally take her to a psychologist (whom Harriet is forced to admire because he, too, keeps copious notes!), and her notebook is taken away.
Just as Harriet declares "I have nothing left to lose," Golly reappears for a visit and solemnly tells Harriet what she must do: apologise, and lie! Harriet's strong character is revealed as she sincerely attempts to tell her friends she is sorry. "Good friends", in Golly's words, "are one of life's blessings. Don't give them up without a fight."
Sport and Janie soon lose interest in the petty hierarchies of the Spy Catchers' Club, and events finally turn around when class elections are held for the position of class newspaper editor, for which Harriet, despite the still-hostile environment, is nominated. Not only does Harriet redeem herself by publicly retracting what she had written privately (a white lie, graciously handled), but she embarks on a writing career, her long-held ambition. Harriet is able to conclude: "The truth is important, and so are your friends... if you can have both, it's a good life."
The film has captured the atmosphere and the wisdom of the book, of equal charm for child and adult viewers. It is a delight to see a film about individuality and integrity which never misses a beat in telling, with humour and depth, a story of an exceptional girl. The casting is faithful to the spirit of the book, and the soundtrack is energetic and upbeat.
I would recommend "Harriet the Spy" to viewers of all ages.
reviewed by L. O'Connor
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews