Of all the feisty teenage heroines that have populated television culture in recent years, perhaps none were more quick-witted or unflinchingly self-aware than high school detective Veronica Mars. Played with a familiar snarky attitude by the pitch perfect Kristen Bell, Veronica was revived from a premature television graveyard to solve one more mystery on March 14 in the film adaptation, “Veronica Mars.”
The beloved cult classic show, which originally ran under the direction of Rob Thomas from 2003 to 2007, made headlines last year with a record-breaking Kickstarter campaign. The online funding platform saw an unprecedented amount of traffic on the site when Thomas and Bell made a promise that hit all the right notes for fans of the quirky and boundary-pushing television show that met with an untimely demise: raise two million dollars, and we’ll make a movie.
The fans raised $5.7 million, and it was time for Thomas and Bell to make good on their promise. The goal, Thomas said at a Comic-Con panel, was to create a stand alone film that would be a “love letter to the fans.” This wish fulfillment strategy turned out to be both an asset and a crutch for the final product, turning “Veronica Mars” into a satisfyingly funny but slightly watered-down version of the original hit.
The film wisely opens with a beautifully-edited montage and a voice over, filling in audiences on the show’s basic premise. The opening establishes Veronica’s past, which was fraught with betrayal, vengeance, and an unflinching desire for the truth. All of this led to her joining the family business by becoming a detective. At the center of this drama is Veronica’s high school enemy-turned-boyfriend, Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring), with whom her relationship has always been complicated.
As the story opens, we meet a new Veronica: one that is no longer obsessed with solving crime, but has successfully distanced herself from a self-diagnosed addiction to finding truth in a troubled town, and is on the cusp of landing a job at an impressive law firm nine years after graduation. With promising career prospects and a stable relationship with college boyfriend Stosh “Piz” Piznarski (Chris Lowell), Veronica has little reason to return to the class war that grips her hometown of Neptune, CA.
Everything changes when news breaks of the death of Veronica’s former classmate, Bonnie DeVille (Andrea Estella). The homicide’s number one suspect? Veronica’s ex-flame and Bonnie’s boyfriend, Logan. When Logan makes a desperate call for help, Veronica finds herself torn between the life she’s always thought she wanted, and the one she’ll never quite be able to walk away from.
The central murder-mystery plot, while occasionally intriguing, feels a little too convenient: Veronica happens to arrive home on the week of her high school’s 10-year reunion, and the murder’s victim, perpetrator, and accomplices are all former students of Neptune High. While this allows for some fun role reprisals and references to the original show, it harkens back to Thomas’ desire to make the film more of a “love letter” and less of an actual story.
Though the central plot lacks some substance, “Veronica Mars” finds success in the core dynamics that still have all the emotional appeal of the original show. In returning to Neptune, Veronica reunites with old pals Wallace (Percy Daggs III) and Mac (Tina Majorino), who are overflowing with a goofy nostalgia and encourage our begrudging title character to attend the high school reunion. Even more meaningful than the central friendship between Veronica and her misfit friends is the cardinal father-daughter dynamic played with a consistent believability by Bell and Enrico Colantoni.
It is the organic rapport between Veronica and Keith Mars that grounds the film (and ultimately the story), by being both emotionally charged and subtly powerful. Keith has always been an important figure in Veronica’s life, and Colantoni shines in the film while playing a father that is protective enough to warn Veronica about letting the corrupted forces of Neptune get the best of her, but wise enough to let his daughter make her own decisions.
As Veronica struggles to choose her path, we finally get a clear glimpse of the dark edginess present in the original television show but slightly lacking in the film. Veronica’s story has always been about a push-and-pull between her desire to leave her broken town and her desire to fix it, and the film addresses this inner turmoil on a much bigger scale. We see a darkness to Veronica, visible in her troubled past and weakness for Logan, that clearly marks the addiction she references early in the movie, and helps the film to transcend beyond a corny story and become an exploration in character development.
Regardless of the lackluster plot that draws the heroine back to town, Thomas’ screenplay shines and is packed with punchy one-liners that we have come to expect from Veronica. Nine years later, she remains as whip-smart and immune to insults as ever, verbally (and sometimes physically) destroying those that cross her. It’s impossible not to root for Veronica Mars, whether you want for her an opportunity to make a new life or a chance to solve just one more mystery. With snappy dialogue and versatile acting, Thomas and Bell ensure you’ll want the latter, because just like Veronica, we’re all a little addicted to finding a greater truth in a time of turmoil.
PHOTO TAKEN from hitfix.com
