Ramona and Beezus
Ramona Quimby (Joey King) is a wildly imaginative 9 year old; meanwhile, her sister Beezus (Selena Gomez) is the picture perfect daughter and sister. When stress enters the household in the form of layoffs at their father’s office, the whole family struggles to adjust to a new standard of living. In particular, Ramona is moved to help the family stay afloat, but how will her efforts be received, and what about this mysterious guy named Hobart (Josh Duhamel) who seems determined to win the affection of Ramona’s Aunt Bea (Ginnifer Goodwin)? 
Based on the popular children’s book series by Beverly Cleary, Director Elizabeth Allen has done a notable job capturing the essence, wit, and complexities of Cleary’s characters in a refreshingly polished film for the whole family. With subject material that could have easily been cheated to reach only a young audience, Allen instead has taken the higher road to make a film that’s not only well written, and well acted, but also well produced in all elements. In particular, the child actors really knock their parts out of the park to set the bar high for all that follow in their footsteps. Sadly, despite the film’s accomplishments I for one am particularly concerned about the studio’s choice of a release date. With several other strong performing films for families and children currently in theatres I’m worried audiences won’t really give Ramona and Beezus the attention they deserve, I suppose only time will tell. Worth at least a matinee, Ramona and Beezus is rated G.