Ramona and Beezus
The adventurous and creative third-grader Ramona Quimby (Joey King) often finds herself in trouble at school and at home, usually with her friend and neighbor, Howie (Jason Spevack). When her father Robert (John Corbett) loses his job and the family falls into severe debt, Ramona's efforts to earn money end up backfiring in humorous ways. She repeatedly embarrasses her older sister, Beatrice (Selena Gomez), calling her by her family nickname, "Beezus", in front of Beatrice's crush, the paperboy Henry Huggins (Hutch Dano). After working as an executive in a storage company since Beezus's birth, Robert causes quarrels with his wife and the girls' mother Dorothy (Bridget Moynahan) when he decides to pursue a creative career.
Meanwhile, Ramona's visiting aunt Bea (Ginnifer Goodwin) is one of the few people who accept Ramona despite all her eccentricities. After a car-painting accident involving Bea's old flame Hobart (Josh Duhamel), Ramona gives up her money-making schemes. The next day, Ramona ruins her school portrait by cracking a raw egg in her hair and responding with disgust when the photographer asks her to say "Peas" instead of "Cheese." Ramona's worries increase the following day, when her classmate Susan (Sierra McCormick) reveals that after her own father lost his job, her parents divorced and her father moved to Tacoma. The news makes Ramona sick, and Robert has to pick her up early from school, interfering with a sudden job interview. Instead of being angry, Robert decides to spend the rest of his day drawing a mural with Ramona.
Ramona and Beezus attempt to make dinner for their parents, but the pan catches fire while Beezus is on the phone with Henry. During the ensuing argument, Henry overhears that Beezus loves him. Still upset, Ramona goes to feed her cat Picky-Picky but is devastated to find the cat dead. The girls' private funeral for Picky-Picky helps them reconcile. A job offer for Robert in Oregon leads Ramona's parents to decide to sell their house. As the family touches up the garden during an open house, Ramona inadvertently initiates a water fight with the neighbors, which floods the neighbors' backyard and exposes a box that Hobart buried there years ago. The box contains mementos of Bea and Hobart's teenage romance, and in light of their rekindling relationship, he proposes to her. Hesitantly, Bea accepts, and the family begins planning the impromptu wedding. Furious that her aunt broke her promise not to get "reeled in," Ramona rushes home and seeks solace in the attic. The fragile rafters break, leaving Ramona's legs dangling from the ceiling during the open house. After the open house clears out, Robert scolds Ramona for her lack of maturity. He then receives a phone call from her teacher, Mrs. Meachum (Sandra Oh). Feeling unwanted, Ramona decides to run away. Unable to convince Ramona not to leave, her mother helps her pack her suitcase. Opening the heavy suitcase at a bus stop, Ramona discovers that her mother made it heavy on purpose to keep Ramona from traveling far. Inside, her mother has packed a book of Robert's sketches of Ramona. Her family finds her soon afterward and everyone is happily reunited.
At Bea and Hobart's wedding, Ramona saves the day when she finds the wedding ring Howie dropped. During the reception, Beezus and Henry share a kiss and dance together. Robert also receives a job offer from Ramona's school; Mrs. Meachum recommended Robert to the school's board as its new art teacher after she saw the mural that he and Ramona made. Ramona is delighted that the family will not have to move and that Robert and Dorothy reconcile. Before Bea and Hobart leave for their honeymoon in Alaska, Ramona gives Bea a locket with her school picture, and Bea tells Ramona that she's "extraordinary."
cute, entertaining