I love Maggie Lawson on "Psych," and I love Nancy Drew, so I was interested to see this 2002 "Nancy Drew." My experiences with Nancy in the past include the books, of course, Bonita Granville in the films, and the Pamela Sue Martin TV series, which I don't remember at all.In this incarnation, Nancy is in college with Bess and George. As a journalism major working on the school paper, she becomes interested in a football player who becomes comatose from taking ephedrine, and it's suspected that his girlfriend, a medical student, gave him the drug. Nancy sets out to find the truth.Lawson is pretty, flirtatious, confident, and spunky. Is she Nancy from the books? No, and I wonder if today it's possible to even capture her. The times are different, for one thing. Unlike some other book characters, Nancy Drew was never considered a good character for the movies, which is why the character created by Bonita Granville was so different. The book Nancy was pretty, serious-minded, intelligent, courageous, wore "frocks" and went to "luncheon" with Bess and George. Granville was hyperkinetic and constantly dragging Ted (not Ned, the studio changed his name) into dangerous situations. She was always in trouble. There was no Bess and George.Reading over the reviews on this site, it's interesting that some people have no familiarity with the films or the TV show. There was a complaint that Nancy is not a strawberry blonde here. At least she's blonde - she's been brunette in other incarnations. Someone else wrote that she must have had a million dollar bank account for a car like that. Nancy was always well-to-do - she never worked and she always had her own car. Someone else mentioned Nancy driving like a maniac. That undoubtedly comes from the Bonita Granville movies, which depicted Nancy as a reckless driver.The Nancy character from this "Nancy Drew" is updated more from the films than the books, but it keeps all of the book characters, and they all use their book names.Bottom line - if Nancy wasn't well-adapted from the 1930s books to 1930s films, there's no chance she's going to be well-adapted from the 1930s books to 21st century films or TV movies. As a regular story that has little relation to Nancy Drew, it's pleasant enough. Scarlett O'Hara, Mrs. Dewinter in Rebecca, Madame Bovary, Anna Karenina, etc. - none of these ever had to be updated; they were done in the period in which they were written. When a 2002 script doesn't even adapt an actual Nancy Drew story from one of the books, the task of creating a modern Nancy becomes impossible.

"Nancy Drew" was the most accurate portrayal of Nancy Drew I have ever seen. Though it was set in modern times instead of the 50s like the book series, the storyline was incredible and the mystery suspenseful. Maggie Lawson was the perfect Nancy Drew, capturing the beloved heroine's thirst for mystery and her confidence, glamour, and intelligence. Nancy Drew's father was protective and loving. Bess and George were played perfectly, and the invented characters were a nice edition to the story. Unlike the Nancy Drew movie that stars Emma Roberts as a brunette (Hair color is usually not important, but Nancy Drew is an icon), fidgety Nany Drew, this movie showed who Nancy Drew really was, blonde hair and all, and was incredible for a TV movie. Nancy Drew's first year of college is one that I will not soon forget.

This movie on TV could've been more based off the books. In the books Nancy NEVER says bad words! 10 mins into the movie Nancy say a little bad word but parents might not want their kids saying it! This movie made her to bossy and wasn't Nancy Drew type. So i say the movie was okay but could be better. Kids who have not the read the books and only saw the movie on TV would like it, but i am reading the books and i'm a huge fan of Nancy Drew. Therefore this movie needed 1. better actors, 2. better director, 3. better everything! Nancy Drew is supposed to be a role model for girls of all ages, and her getting into jail while sluething(looking for clues) is just not role model form. This movie could be better but, if I had to choose between 1-10 of rating I would choose a 6. I hope this has helped you in choosing what to watch. Thanks and remember Nancy Drew rocks!

As the movie opens, an impossibly confident Nancy Drew is weaving her way through traffic while talking on her cell phone. As she starts college, she moves into an apartment-style dorm room with two perky friends and a third roomie with a strong Spanish accent who otherwise looks as if she belongs with the group. The girls try to get into Tri Pi sorority, full of adorable perky girls. At this point it seems this movie is going to be just so much fluff. Not so; one of the Tri Pi girls has to go with her football player boyfriend to the hospital, and the rumor is that the girl, a pre-med student, supplied the boyfriend with performance-enhancing drugs. Nancy tries to solve the mystery but encounters many roadblocks and ends up going too far, discovering that her actions have consequences, including her arrest. Her objective is to satisfy a journalism professor so evil he makes Professor Kingsfield look like a teddy bear. Can she do it? This is a Disney movie, isn't it? The formula is to overcome obstacles and reach a goal, though it may not be the exact goal you expect. Or maybe they went against the formula this time. You'll just have to watch.