Jordana Beatty shows plenty of charisma but NOT BUMMER SUMMER is a dull adventure.
Take all the bright colored paints, gluey streaks of sparkles, stickers and comical sketches that make up the standard elementary school student art project; toss it onto the big screen and you'll have a family adventure similar to director John Schultz's high-energy adaptation of Megan McDonald's popular Judy Moody series of children's books, Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer from Relativity Media and Universal Pictures.
To the parents' eyes, Not Bummer Summer may come off as too frantic in tone, visually cluttered and haphazard in its storytelling. Yet, it's worth remembering those are all the things young Judy Moody fans are looking for in a movie starring their favorite heroine.
Still, by the end of Judy's Bummer Summer adventure and the valuable lesson that one does not have to travel to far-away places for summertime thrills but they can occur in one's own backyard, both parents and kids will nod in unison that Judy Moody's debut movie is nowhere near as fun as any of the nine books in the series.
When a family comedy stumbles it's doubly devastating because of the young fans that leave disappointed, even more so when it's a movie based on the beloved Judy Moody books.
All hope that Not Bummer Summer would turn out to be the first good surprise of the Summer 2011 Blockbuster season fizzles soon after the movie starts. It's a triple shame because Judy Moody has so much potential.
Judy (Jordana Beatty) is an energetic third-grader lamenting about another dull summer at home as her friends (Garret Ryan, Ashley Boetticher) head off for far-away travels and circus camps and cooler stuff than her.
Making matters worse, Judy and her younger brother Stink (Parris Mosteller) are left with eccentric Aunt Opal (Heather Graham) when their parents have to travel to California to help out a grandparent.
Judy consults her Magic 8 Ball about the prospects for her summer vacation and her chance at earning more "thrill points" than her pals for accomplishing daring feats of fun. The news from the Magic 8 Ball is not good but Judy, Stink and Aunt Opal end up having plenty of adventures.
Australian actress Jordana Beatty has frizzy red hair, lots of freckles and a firecracker spirit as Judy. She's plenty of fun as the frantic Judy although there's a little a young lead can do when the movie slowly breaks apart like a student art project without enough glue.
Heather Graham (The Hangover) shows charisma and a zest for life as the cool aunt who turns trash can lids into crazy hats and makes an ordinary drive in the family station wagon a death-defying experience.
Jaleel White, better known as Urkel from the kid-friendly ABC sitcom Family Matters, delivers some good-natured laughs as Judy's quirky third-grade teacher Mr. Todd.
John Schultz has a number of family-friendly comedies to his credit including Aliens in the Attic, The Honeymooners and Like Mike but none of them stand out as exceptional.
The breakdown in storytelling is surprising since McDonald adapts her own books with co-writer Kathy Waugh. Granted, Not Bummer Summer is an original story but it's puzzling that McDonald does not do a better job bringing Judy Moody to the big screen.
Costume designer Mary Jane Fort and cameraman Shaun Maurer keep Not Bummer Summer vibrant and colorful. Its zesty look from Judy's cluttered bedroom to her animated bursts of imagination are the best things about Not Bummer Summer. If only the story was just as sparkly.
Movies need more adventurous young heroines like Judy Moody and Judy Moody deserves a better big-screen debut than Not Bummer Summer.
More on Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer:
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Director: John Schultz
Scriptwriter: Megan McDonald and Kathy Waugh from the series of books by Megan McDonald
Cinematographer: Shawn Maurer
Cast: Jordana Beatty, Heather Graham, Parris Mosteller, Preston Bailey, Jaleel White, Janet Varney, Kristoffer Rya Winters
Production Designer: Cynthia Kay Charette
Running Time: minutes
Producers: Relativity Media, Smokewood Entertainment
Rating: Rated PG
Release Date: June 10, 2011