Veronica Mars (2014)

Film: Veronica Mars (2014)

Stars: Kristen Bell, Jason Dohring, Enrico Colantoni, Chris Lowell, Percy Daggs III, Tina Majorino, Krysten Ritter

Director: Rob Thomas

Oscar History: No nominations

Snap Judgment Ranking: 3/5 stars

I know very little about the Veronica Mars television series.  I have seen a handful of episodes, enough to string together a few persistent themes and know that it’s a cute, quality show.  My mother, however, is a Marshmallow through-and-through.  She has seen every season, can quote episodes, and drove 130 miles to come visit the nearest movie theater playing the film this past weekend, which is how I chanced upon the film.

We’ve discussed this topic a bit before, but the Veronica Mars movie means more than just two hours in a theater to a lot of people.  It is the culmination of nearly a decade of work trying to bring back the fictional town of Neptune and this witty young detective (Bell).  The film delivers what one would expect from such a place: we get a few winks toward the core audience.  Watching this on opening night was definitely the right decision, as every fan favorite call-out or reappearance by a former star of the series was treated with gasps or squeals (and this is one of those rare movies where there was literal applause at the end of the film).

The film functions, however, as a separate entity as well.  Though I suspect that you would get a lot more enjoyment from the film if you were already aware of the preceding television series, as a casual acquaintance of the show, I felt that I could easily follow along, and that the movie retained all of the charms of the original.  Some have complained about the film not being “cinematic,” but it’s an independent movie-not everything has to have a Wally Pfister-level cinematography to play at your local AMC.

I will say that the film is at its best when it is focusing on the quippy nature of its star.  Bell has been difficult to cast for Hollywood for some reason that I cannot quite understand.  She’s attractive, smart, very likable, and can sing, but somehow she’s only found middling success in cinema (she’s fared better on television).  Watching her easily glide from scene-to-scene, keeping the film moving when it veers into weird tangents (I think we probably could have done without the side plot with a corrupt Jerry O’Connell for some reason showing up…and I’m aware that is hearkening back to the series and probably just giving us an excuse to have a decent plot for Enrico Colantoni), and always ready with a one-liner, Bell owns the movie.  I equally loved Ryan Hansen as the scene-stealing Dick Casablancas, and there should be far more of him if there’s a sequel-his comic timing in the film as a himbo was delicious, and I’m guessing a highlight of the actual television series (I would watch a movie of he and Bell just insulting each other).

As I mentioned above, some of the scenes don’t quite work for a casual fan.  In addition to the police officer subplot, the scene with Max Greenfield didn’t quite work for me since I had no idea what his relationship was to Veronica in the first place.  Overall, though, the film was quite well-done and definitely left the idea open for a sequel, which considering the $2.2 million in-theater gross (not to mention the Kickstarter money and the streaming grosses) is something Warner Brothers will surely pursue.

The question is, though, whether other studios will as well?  There’s clearly an audience for this type of film, and with the way people watch television series now, this is something worth considering.  I would assume that the number of people who signed up for Veronica Mars weren’t necessarily just fans of the initial series, but instead have come to it through years of streaming opportunities on websites like Netflix.  Pushing Daisies, Chuck, and Gilmore Girls have the same level of cult-like following that Veronica Mars does, and probably could be next in this lineup.

We’ll leave it at that, and I’ll hand the conversation over to you-what did you think of the Veronica Mars movie?  Do you think that it could lead to more cult shows getting resurrected for another go-around?  And why isn’t Kristen Bell a bigger star?  Sound off in the comments!