Based on the beloved children’s books by Beverly Cleary, Ramona and Beezus is a good, but not great, movie.  However, in a world of annoyingly saccharine — or just annoying — kids movies, Ramona and Beezus stands out.  The movie is not interested in assaulting the audience with hipness, pop culture references, and a joke every minute.

Instead, Ramona and Beezus takes its time as we visit for a spell with the Quimby family of Klickitat Street in Portland, Oregon.  Joey King is cast well as the younger of the two title characters, Ramona, whose head for imagination and nose for mischief gets her into all sorts of trouble that’s usually remedied by an understanding family member. Teen star Selena Gomez plays the older sister, Beezus.  She’s in high school, just beginning to blossom into a young woman, and terribly embarrassed at her crush on neighbor Henry Huggins.

Cleary, at 94, has been writing books for so long, and does it so well, that every generation, kids think she wrote stories just for him or her. Ramona and Beezus takes a series of familiar scenes from Cleary’s books and brings them to life on screen, adding a touch of contemporary conflict when dad (John Corbett) loses his job. 

A good dad to begin with, he turns his job loss into an opportunity to get to know his daughters even better.  There’s also a sub-plot involving Aunt Bea (Ginnfer Goodwin) and her reluctance to get back together with an old boyfriend (Josh Duhamel), despite the fact that he’s really a sweetheart.  Everyone involved does a good job with their roles, and the movie breezes by in a little over an hour and a half, closing with a big celebration.

There’s a gentleness about Ramona and Beezus that I found refreshing.  Many reviews have used the word “nostalgia” when describing the film’s general demeanor.  Maybe I’m giving the movie higher marks than I should. But if it skates by on sweetness and nostalgia, and there are no talking dogs, fart jokes, or zany aliens, and the kids in the movie actually seem like real people rather than child stars hamming it up for the camera... is that such a bad thing for parents and their kids?

RAMONA AND BEEZUS ON BLU-RAY & DVD

The DVD of Ramona and Beezus includes a too-short interview with Beverly Cleary, though it was fun to hear her talk about her inspiration for the characters and settings of her books. There’s also a set of bloopers from the film and deleted scenes. The most interesting feature for kids and adults finds director Elizabeth Allen sharing a few practical tips for how to make your own movie.

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