Ramona and Beezus

It's a challenge to find quality films suitable for the whole family, but we LOVED this movie. Hubby and I watched this with our strong-willed 8 yr old daughter, and to say that we related to Ramona's struggles is a huge understatement. John Corbett is outstanding as the dad who loses his job but sets a positive example with his attitude and outlook. We cherished the portrayal of this loving dad-daughter relationship. I will definitely watch this again with my daughter. Joey King is superb as Ramona. Sandra Oh is hilarious as the strict and standoffish teacher. This film took us through an emotional range of highs and lows appropriate for a young audience, and depicts how loving family bonds can weather the storm no matter what life brings. To me, this is some of the highest quality content I've seen in a while, and I'm puzzled why it doesn't have better reviews overall. The plot, dialogue, acting and cinematography are a caliber way, way above the typical Spy Kids-type movie. Highly recommend!

This movie was great. I am very picky about what I let my kids watch and I had no problems with this movie morally. The big sister wasn’t very nice to her little sister and scared her and threatened her, but the death of a pet brought them closer together and showed them both that none of that really mattered. That was the whole point of the movie - family sticks together and loves each other no matter what, even sisters who sometimes don’t get along. It was a cleverly hidden moral, which are the best kind because kids don’t like to be moralized to. One kids review said “Ramona was never punished for anything she did wrong” which I would say was true in the books at least the ones I’ve read recently. In The film it showed she didn’t really do anything wrong except get a low grade on her report card, but that was portrayed more as a personality conflict, and her parents made it clear that wasn’t an excuse. So I’m not sure that’s a valid criticism. The pet death scene and subsequent funeral scene were tear jerkers and that’s the only reason I gave If an 8+ rating. I have to say this as a positive; it’s extremely rare that you find a happy fictional family portrayed in Hollywood anymore. Even more rare to find one that is believable. I loved this goofy little family. They reminded me of my own. I wish more stories centered around happy families like this one to show kids what normal looks like. I know, there’s no “normal” anymore. And that’s a big reason our world is so messed up. Kids need a stable loving family. Finally I was shocked to see that common sense media gave it three stars when both the adults and the kids gave it four. Many people gave it five stars. It turns out that common sense media doesn’t use an algorithm like other ratings oriented media that use an average of users. Instead they have their own “experts” who decide whether they think a film is “educational” enough. Whatever that means. I am actually pretty perturbed about this because I really liked this movie and felt it taught good emotional lessons about getting along with family, accepting who you are, trying despite the odds and believing you can do difficult things. Five stars.