‘Nancy Drew’

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Eat your heart out, Bonita Granville.

Granville was the silver screen’s first Nancy Drew, playing the intrepid teen sleuth in such snappy ’30s B-movies as "Nancy Drew — Troubleshooter" and (my fave, naturally) "Nancy Drew — Reporter."

But the new "Nancy Drew" proves that the venerable title character, who made her literary debut in 1930, is just as much at home in the 21st century as she was in the 20th.

To generations of girls (and, I suspect, more than a few boys), Nancy Drew provided a genuine role model, a girl who refused to sit around and behave in a ladylike manner — especially when there were haunted houses to investigate, clues to piece together and danger to brave.

These days, however, Nancy’s cozy hometown of River Heights doesn’t quite provide enough excitement for a big-screen adventure.

So this "Nancy Drew" ships the title character (winningly played by Emma Roberts — Eric’s daughter and Julia’s niece) to Southern California, where she not only takes on an enduring Hollywood puzzler but must solve an even more dreaded mystery: life as the new kid in school.

When her widowed attorney father (a genial Tate Donovan) accepts a case in Los Angeles, Nancy accompanies him, promising to cut back on the "sleuthing" once they hit the big city.

Little does dear old dad suspect that his dutiful daughter has plenty of fodder for her investigative instincts right at home. After all, they’re renting the former abode of legendary screen queen Dehlia Draycott, who met an untimely end under extremely suspicious circumstances.

Before Nancy can solve this particular Hollywood homicide, however, she’s got to figure out how to survive the halls of Hollywood High, where two mean-girl trendsetters (Kelly Vitz, Daniella Monet) target her — and an adoring underclassman (diminutive scene-stealer Josh Flitter) attaches himself to her.

Fortunately, Nancy has a hometown honey: true-blue Ned Nickerson ("The Astronaut Farmer’s" earnest Max Thieriot), who may worry about Nancy’s penchant for getting into trouble, but would never try to stop her, because that’s just the way she is — and that’s exactly the way he likes her.

Although this "Nancy Drew" takes place in the contemporary world — complete with cellular phones, text messaging and other digital advances — it also takes some cues from its oh-so-retro heroine, who drives an Eisenhower-era Nash Metropolitan, wears plaid skirts and penny loafers and is unfailingly polite, as when she reacts to a life-or-death crisis with a courteous "Excuse me, I have to defuse this bomb."

Indeed, Nancy Drew — and the movie that bears her name — might very well be insufferable, were it not for the movie’s savvy approach and Roberts’ crisp appeal.

By making Nancy a fish out of water, writer-director Andrew Fleming (2003’s misbegotten "In-Laws" remake) and co-writer Tiffany Paulsen allow Nancy to explore colorful L.A. locations — from Olvera Street to Griffith Park to Chinatown — as they set up situations to challenge her smarts and spirit.

And while Granville would feel utterly at home in some of those situations (especially while skulking around Draycott’s creaky, straight-out-of-"Sunset Boulevard" mansion), the contrast between the movie’s modern-day setting and its plucky, can-do heroine gives this "Nancy Drew" a welcome, fun-for-all-ages vibe. Even Granville would approve.