Ramona and Beezus (A)

Astoundingly simple yet entrancingly beautiful, this intensely loyal adaption of Beverly Cleary's Klickitat Street children books is the family film of the year.
11-year-old actress Joey King plays 9-year-old Ramona Quimby, a creative, spunky, and unique girl who feels overshadowed by her perfect big sister "Beezus" (Selena Gomez of TV's Wizards of Waverly Place), nervous at her father (John Corbett)'s recent unemployment, and horrified by the romance of her beloved aunt (Ginnifer Goodwin) with a charming traveler (Josh Duhamel). The film cannot quite catch all of the realistic charm Cleary put into her books, but relatively unknown writers Laurie Craid and Nick Pustay and relatively unknown director Elizabeth Allen (Aquamarine) do the best job possible.
The movie starts off in a relatively annoying fashion--it is loyal to the book, but still relies to much on cliches. As the picture progresses, though, the plot becomes more realistic and the strong themes emerge. Yes, it is much more fairy tale-esque then the novels, but it combines this with honest messages on growing up and the role of a family. The most amazing thing is how the story is always 100% clean, calm, and simple despite hinting at stronger issues like parental conflict and severe life changes. Never before have I seen a movie use such restraint (even Toy Story 3 had poop jokes); neither was I accustomed to putting in so much adult morals while firmly stating its position as being a tale meant for very young children.
Another thing note-worthy is that while having definite disagreement between characters no one is vilified (except for the non-speaking, tricycle riding, little neighbor). The audience feels the injustice Ramona sees, but also can tell that there are many sides to the story--this fact is further impacted by Sandra Oh (Sideways)'s excellent performance as an abrasive teacher.
It is easy to overlook the need for good children movies--and also easy to miss how skillful one has to be to make these movies equally pleasing to older audiences. Ramona and Beezus does so so well it definitely deserves praise.