Nancy Drew, the resourceful teen detective, leaves her friendly hometown of River Heights for the West Coast and enrolls at Hollywood High School. There, her unique personal style immediately sets her apart from her self-absorbed, fast-living peers, especially reigning fashionistas Inga and Trish, who can't quite figure her out but know that everything about her is different--from her super-smarts and retro manners to her perfect picnic lunches and penny loafers. Their less-than-warm reception might bother the average new girl in town, but not Nancy. She has more important things to think about--namely, a brand new mystery. Even though she promised her worried Dad that she'd quit the "sleuthing" business, it isn't long before Nancy gets a lead on one of the greatest unsolved cases of all time: the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of famous actress Dehlia Draycott. It happens that the Drews are staying in the former Draycott mansion, long reputed to be haunted and now a site where some very strange things have been happening. How could she resist? - skip ad - Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Thriller, Adaptation and Teen Running Time: 1 hr. 38 min. Release Date: June 15th, 2007 (wide) MPAA Rating: PG for mild violence, thematic elements and brief language. Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution Cast And Credits Starring: Emma Roberts, Tate Donovan, Barry Bostwick, Laura Elena Harring, Josh Flitter Directed by: Andrew Fleming Produced by: Susan Ekins, Mark Vahradian, Benjamin Waisbren

River Heights meets Mulholland Drive, to lackluster effect, in "Nancy Drew." The beloved amateur sleuth's first big-screen appearance in nearly 70 years is not devoid of affection for the mystery books that have engaged generations of young girls, but the culture-clash procedural, which brings the small-town teen to big bad Hollywood, feels more perfunctory than inspired.

If the feature sparks a run on the books, it will be the result of tween-targeted marketing centering on Nickelodeon star Emma Roberts; word-of-mouth among young moviegoers, their mothers and grandmothers isn't likely to solve this case at the boxoffice.

Conceived, written and edited by committee under the pseudonymous authorship of Carolyn Keene, the book series has undergone its fair share of revisions and facelifts since first publication in 1930. It's hardly sacred literature that shouldn't be messed with, yet the source material's particular resonance remains elusive in this 21st century update.

DiDirector Andrew Fleming and co-scripter Tiffany Paulsen have set up a familiar new-girl-in-school scenario for Nancy, overshadowing the mystery that should be the story's engine. Their screenplay isn't quite parody, but it's larded with enough self-conscious deadpan nods to the genre to make it something less than sincere.

They've put Nancy (a perennial 18-year-old for decades) back in high school at 16 -- all the better for setting her in contrived opposition to fashion-slave Los Angeles mean girls (Daniella Monet, Kelly Vitz), while best friends George and Bess are reduced to bit parts back in stateless River Heights. Vague business has brought her widowed attorney father (Tate Donovan) to Los Angeles, where Nancy gets busy suggesting improvements to the principal of Hollywood High and delving into a movieland mystery.

The unsolved case from the annals of Hollywood dates way back to the glamorous days of 1981, when actress Dehlia Draycott (Laura Elena Harring) died after a five-month disappearance. Having rented the decrepit mansion where Dehlia lived (nice work by production designer Tony Fanning), Nancy can avail herself of an attic full of memorabilia, not to mention film footage and a projector, all under the disquieting eye of "strange caretaker" Leshing (Marshall Bell). Smitten 12-year-old Corky (Josh Flitter) lends his help, as does Ned Nickerson (Max Thieriot), who arrives from back home to deliver Nancy's nifty blue convertible and -- in the film's only emotionally convincing performance -- to confront his feelings for his favorite sleuth.

With an iBook and a vintage roadster at her disposal, Nancy would seem to have the best of both worlds. But the movie suffers from a split personality that proves enervating. The idea of playing up Nancy's retro qualities goes only so far, and reimagining her as a square do-gooder feels forced -- and misses the point about the unfussy intelligence that has made the character a keeper for most of a century.

As the quick-thinking, fearless title character, Roberts ("Unfabulous") conveys the required poise and self-confidence but never overcomes a certain blankness. Helmer Fleming ("Dick") struggles to generate human chemistry within the tween-movie formula. Often the most expressive onscreen elements are the costumes by Jeffrey Kurland, who dressed Roberts' Aunt Julia in "Erin Brockovich" and "Ocean's Eleven," and who has a good deal of character-defining fun here.

The Hollywood-lore angle is more intriguing than the high-school scenario, and older viewers might enjoy the film references, if only because they're diversions from the listless action.

Harring's presence pays homage to David Lynch's brilliant R-rated twist on Nancy Drew in "Mulholland Drive"; there are broad allusions to "Chinatown"; and when Nancy tracks down a crucial figure (Rachael Leigh Cook) in the Draycott mystery, she visits an apartment building that will recall last year's "Hollywoodland." Adam Goldberg and an uncredited Bruce Willis provide all-too-fleeting film-within-the-film cameos, while Barry Bostwick delivers a tasty turn as a super-lawyer to the stars.

Late-in-the-proceedings tension does materialize, but under the helm of Fleming and DP Alexander Gruszynski, most of the action sequences unfold with numbing indifference, while Ralph Sall's original score is far more interesting than his soundtrack of perkily predictable pop songs.