HARRIET THE SPY 1996
A film review by Timothy Voon
Copyright 1997 Timothy Voon
2 :-) :-) for the spy
Directed by Bronwen Hughes Cast Michelle Trachtenberg Vanessa Lee Gregory Smith (I) Rosie O'Donnell J. Smith-Cameron Robert Joy (I) Eartha Kitt Charlotte Sullivan Marion Hawthorne Teisha Kim Written by Louise Fitzhugh (book) Douglas Petrie (I) Theresa Rebeck
There's something wonderful about childhood which allows us to believe we are capable of anything. The future shines brightly ahead like the rising sun in the distant horizon. Life's bitter lessons haven't taught us to believe otherwise, as we stand invincible on the promising steps of hopes and dreams. When I was young I believed that I could fly to the moon and back in my space craft composed of broken down radio and hi-fi set; that it was indeed the Millenium Falcon, and I was Han Solo journeying to rescue Princess Leia. I won't tell you what I used for a substitute light sabre, but that's my private childhood fantasy. For Harriet M. Welsch it was to become the world's greatest spy. Whatever she saw, whatever she heard, she wrote down in her very 'private' notebook. For she aspired to be a great writer, and one has to start somewhere in life, why not earlier.
So our tale of childhood dreams begins, with a girl sheltered beneath the loving wings of her nanny Ms Golly (Rosie O'Donnell). Harriet has been neglectfully ignored by her busy parents, leaving her to seek thrilling sessions of spying and writing. Wherever she goes she carries her book, and within it writes the most painful truths about her dearest friends Sport and Janie, her greatest enemy Marion the class president, and much, much more. Through a shift of unfortunate circumstance Ms Golly is called to leave, forcing the young Harriet to spread her tender wings. With much anticipation and under preparation, the spy is faced with her first taste of cruelty that lost innocence brings. When Marion exposes her most private thoughts from that most secret book, Harriet becomes the object of much despise and ridicule. The once great spy is flung into lonely solitude of careless abandon.
So for the first time in her young life, Harriet of the sixth grade faces self doubt and wavering uncertainty. The child who once showed unwavering confidence, now lies marred and wounded, confused and vulnerable. With Ms Golly gone, her parents a distant relation, and excommunicated by her closest friends, Harriet stands alone. Arising from this adversity, angry and vengeful at first, the spy who would be, learns to resolve her differences peacefully - to forgive those who have hurt her most, her parents and best friends. Thus, Harriet the Spy has learnt her first and most painful lesson in life, what it must be like to be human.
Timothy Voon e-mail: stirling@netlink.com.au
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