My 11-year-old daughter and I watched the video of Harriet the Spy last night. I found the story a bit slow to get going, but my daughter loved it. Once the plot finally kicks in (Harriet alienates her friends when they read the "truth" about them in her secret diary),it is well-developed and very "real". The resolution is satisfying without getting too soppy. The young actors are all superb, and the quick-cut editing gives it quite a pacy feel that my daughter really responded to.

My favourite scene was the cat man in "Birdland"--good enough we rewound the tape for my husband (a jazz fan) to watch the scene.

One oddity my daughter and I both puzzled over... After Harriet's parents confiscate her diary, she is seen destroying it in her room, and later her parents return it to her intact. It seemed to us like that middle scene was intended to be cut, but got put in anyway.

I gave this film 8/10 from a "family viewing" and "production quality" aspect. My daughter gave it a thumbs-up 10/10, and she doesn't do that very often. If she's the target audience, and I presume she is, the film-makers got this one right on the nose.

Meanwhile, anyone over the age of thirteen will probably find it boring. The title character comes across as the sort of person who does everything possible to entertain herself with no regard to anyone's wellbeing; seriously, some of actions seem kind of nasty.

Basically, the little ones will very likely spend the whole time laughing. No one else.

While not as zippily paced as the book, and the film can get predictable and a tad corny, it is entertaining thanks to the spirited acting and the enthusiasm that shapes this movie. The script is well written and quite mature and funny, and the premise about a girl who spies on her friends and family and writes about them in her notebook, is a nice one. The direction is good, the tone of the film is quirky and the performances are great. Michelle Trachtenberg is perfectly cast as Harriet, Trachtenberg was a very promising child actress and this is proof of that. Eartha Kitt is great as Agatha, and Gregory Smith and Vanessa Lee Chester both give spirited turns as Sport and Janie. As Harriet's nanny, Rosie O'Donnell is a really pleasant surprise. Here she gives a very warm performance, and I do think she was better than she was in The Flintstones, where I did like her but she didn't quite have the voluptuousness of her character Betty. The film is well shot, with a nice soundtrack. Overall, not perfect, but definitely worth watching. 7/10 Bethany Cox