Ramona and Beezus

The source is Beverly Cleary's Ramona books, read by generations of American children. The film does not adapt a single volume but combines episodes drawn mainly from Ramona Forever and Ramona's World. Ramona Quimby, a third-grader, turns every well-meant act into a disaster. Her older sister Beezus is the version of her that is permanently embarrassed. This time the stakes are heavier: their father loses his job and the family faces losing the house. Ramona tries to fix it, by the methods available to a nine-year-old. Joey King plays Ramona and Selena Gomez her sister, with Bridget Moynahan and John Corbett as the parents. Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum directed. What the film does best is hold the child's viewpoint: adult worries are always half-heard on screen, arriving through a door left ajar or from the kitchen. Who it is for: families, and viewers who like films that take a child's perspective seriously. Who it is not for: adult viewers on their own. The film never misses its target audience, the tone stays light throughout, and conflicts resolve quickly.