‘Veronica’ is just what fans ordered
Fan-demanded and fan-financed, “Veronica Mars” represents some sort of new movie-making paradigm. If you love something so much that you’d “pay to see that,” you can now turn that dream project into a big-screen reality by ponying up a piece of the production financing yourself.
From a fan’s standpoint, that’s kind of cool. This movie caters to them.
But as another in the rich tradition of private detective thrillers, the big-screen “Veronica” isn’t just for fans. Almost, though.
A generic murder mystery with the private eye narrating the investigation in voiceover, this class reunion dramedy chugs along on the good will the cast built up over the TV show’s 2004-07 run. Co-writer/director Rob Thomas tailored this to run on the familiar rhythms of a sitcom, custom fit for the vulnerable, hesitant sass of Kristen Bell, his star.
It’s self-conscious to a fault. It plays as melodramatic, and a little dated. And when it comes to laughs, it tries too hard.
As Veronica, fresh out of law school, living in New York and about to marry Piz (Chris Lowell), says, “Old habits die hard.”
So when her one-time-nemesis-turned-lover Logan (Jason Dohring) is accused of killing his pop-star girlfriend, Veronica answers the call. She’ll fly cross-country to Neptune Beach, where the dead pop star also was a classmate a decade ago. Veronica promises her dad (Enrico Colantoni) she won’t get caught up in this case just as her dreaded 10-year reunion is happening.
The underpinnings of the TV show are exposed in a compact opening montage and assorted snarky or sweet “You haven’t changed a bit” reunion moments. Early scenes are heavy on the incessant Veronica-narration and exposition, references to incidents and accidents from years ago, from a sex tape to a drowning death.
But the filmgoer is constantly reminded that this was a TV show, after all, as most of the players are TV bland – emoting only from the neck up. And even at that, it takes them a while for them to get their feet back under themselves as they fall back into this world and the roles they played in it.
Halfway in, however, something clicks and the magic that fans fell in love with splashes up on even the casual Veronica viewer. The one-liners land and the pop culture references pile up, along with cameos by the likes of James Franco, Justin Long, Ira Glass and Dax Shepard (Bell’s husband).
As school principal Mr. C. (Duane Daniels) notes, the time since Veronica left has been “10 years of peace and quiet.”
Yeah, she shrugs. “If you like that sort of thing.”
Which goes for “Veronica Mars,” the movie, too. For all its fun flourishes and tepid overfamiliarity, fans are going to dig this. It is, after all, the movie they paid for. They’re the folks who “like this sort of thing.” The rest of us can be forgiven for waiting for it to show up on Netflix, so we can watch it on TV.