Common Sense Note
Fans of the eponymous book will love watching an updated Harriet explore her world and write what she sees. The film, aimed at 9- to 12-year-olds, will have these kids squirming in their seats when Harriet meets her Waterloo. But older kids who loved the book will want to see it, too.
Harriet's interest in observing the world around her may inspire children to do the same. Harriet's experiences can teach them the importance of treating your friends with respect. Families may want ask their children how they've have handled being treated badly at school and how they treat their own friends. Parents won't want children imitating Harriet's attempts to seek revenge on the kids who have ostracized her or Janie's "scientific" experiments.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: M. Faust
Eleven-year-old Harriet M. Welsch wants to be a writer. Golly, her nanny and best friend, encourages her to work toward her goal by keeping a notebook and writing down her observations about everything she sees. Harriet becomes a keen observer for the sake of her writing.
Harriet's endeavor suffers a setback when Golly and her parents decide that she no longer needs to have a nanny. Even worse, her top-secret notebook gets into the hands of her nemesis, the class snob. The snob reads aloud all that Harriet has written, and the children ostracize her.
Harriet learns that there is more to people than just the superficial details that she notes in her book.
Louise Fitzhugh's book of the same title, first published in 1964, has been a favorite of several generations of girls. They're the best audience for this movie, which brings the story faithfully to life (but moves it from Manhattan of the 1960s to a blander, unidentified city of the present).
The problem is that the story too often gets lost amid long scenes involving Harriet, her friends, and their escapades, which do nothing to move the plot along. What's worse, these scenes aren't intrinsically very interesting either. We want to learn more about some of the characters that Harriet spies on, like the old man who keeps cats named after jazz musicians, or the old rich woman who happily spends all of her time in bed. The movie spends just enough time with them to catch our attention, then disappoints us by forgetting about them.
The only character we come to know is Harriet, who tests our sympathy by writing down mean observations about her classmates. The highlight of the movie is Rosie O'Donnell's performance as Harriet's nanny Golly, although the notion of an 11-year-old girl with a nanny will seem odd to most people.
For another selection about spunky girls, try The Baby-Sitter's Club, an entertaining story about friendship and responsibility.
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LanguageSome childish vulgarities but no profanity. |
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Social BehaviorThe loss of Harriet's nanny, Golly, is sad. So is her estrangement from her friends. Harriet learns to be more caring for her friends. |
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