Ramona and Beezus: the good kind of cute

The film based on books by Beverly Cleary is cute and refreshing, without being insipid.

Based on the books by Beverly Cleary, imaginative, nine-year-old Ramona Quimby (Joey King) copes with being the class misfit and the family trouble-maker. This film is cute without being insipid. Ramona is an adorable moppet with a loving and interesting family (played by John Corbett and Bridget Moynahan as the dad and mom, and Selena Gomez as older sis Beezus). She has other strong adult influences, including Aunt Bea (Ginnifer Goodwin), Sandra Oh as her teacher and Josh Duhamel as Bea’s love interest, all of whom play 30-somethings. Their younger age subverts the movie cliche of impossibly spry, wise yet mischievous grandparent types (think Harold and Maude to Little Miss Sunshine). It’s refreshing when someone trusts your generation to dispense wisdom to a minor.

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