I will admit that I am not very good at taking home movies. I want to but I feel like I am missing the moment when I am behind a camera. I was watching Ramona and Beezus recently and I realized I really connected with this family. The situations, relationships, and scenerios brought out by each other were very realistic. I thought this movie is like my family.
As I was watching it I was thinking, "So that is what is happening in Lydia's head". There is a scene where Ramona is jumping out of the new addition being built onto her house. In her mind she is jumping out of an airplane. I said, "I wish I had an imagination like that." Lydia said, "Well, it can be bad sometimes because you can scare yourself really bad. It is hard to tell what is real and what is not." Wow! Now I understand her and Caleb so much more.
Brian, my husband, told me that Caleb told him, "The reason I get scared sometimes is there are portals all over our house." I recently took him to the gym with me to work out. He was playing with a pedal on a bike. He pushed it as fast as he could and waited until it stopped moving. At first he was impressed with his strength. Within 20 minutes he was sure there was a robot ghost making it move and he was crying. Brian and I think for Lydia and him the line between reality and fantasy is very thin.
When Ramona spills paint on her neighbors car while giving it a car wash, I laughed so hard I was crying. My Lydia gets herself in fixes all the time. She is super smart and she loves to laugh. She never has to have a game or joke explained. She just gets it. That is why I have decided if I buy Ramona and Beezus I will have some home videos to add to my collection.
I agree this is a good family movie, especially for anyone who knows a child with an overactive imagination.
ReplyDeleteThe girls who play the title characters are cute and convincing, and the rest of the cast is pretty good too (especially Ginnifer Goodwin as aunt Bea.)
This fun little story addresses sisterly love, families dealing with difficulties both external and self-imposed, and a few standard themes of the romantic comedy genre. I have not read the Beverly Cleary books on which it is based, but I suspect any fan of them will enjoy this adaptation.
I like that it did not go over the top or try to be more than it should. As a simple, unpretentious, but very well made movie, it succeeds at entertaining and inspiring kids and parents alike.
My favorite part is when Ramona runs away! That Mom was a GENIUS!
ReplyDeleteRobot Ghost made me laugh. That is pretty funny. :)
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