Posted: 10/15/2011

Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer

by Caress Thirus

Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer (2011) is an adventure that’s fun for the whole family! It’s a bright and colorful tale that tweens will enjoy and recognize from the books by Megan McDonald.

Schools out and it’s summer time! That only means one thing: tons of adventure for Judy Moody (Jordana Beatty) and her friends, the members of the TP Club.

Judy is not your average girl. She favors shark t-shirts over hair ties, and would rather spend a day riding an elephant than shopping at the mall. She’s a total tomboy who hates the color pink just as much as she loves taking risks and facing danger. Judy sees adventure in everything, and viewers get a peek into her wild imagination through computer animated sequences in the style of the illustrations of Judy and her friends. She lives in a colorful house with her mom, dad, and little brother, Stink (Parris Mosteller) – who is convinced he’ll find Bigfoot before the summer is out.

The film opens with Judy shaking a magic 8 ball, hoping whatever it says will assure her that her summer will be exciting and memorable. But when she learns that her best friends will be leaving town for the summer, she’s convinced that she’s about to experience the most bummer summer of her entire life. It puts her in a not-so-Judy mood, until Aunt Opal (Heather Graham) comes to town.

Aunt Opal is a world traveler who gets into trouble, gives the best presents, and is good at almost everything. She’s a guerrilla artist who enjoys making messes as much as Judy and Stink.

Judy decides to have a contest to test who really had the most fun over the summer, keeping track of her “thrill points” on a chart. She goes on lots of super-cool ventures and has great experiences, but somehow they always get messed up and cause her to lose thrill points. By the end of the summer, will she prove that she doesn’t have to go to Borneo or circus camp to have the best summer ever?

The energy and excitement in this movie is way over-the top. Even Judy’s parents are super-animated and seem like characters pulled out of a cartoon. Director John Schultz does a great job of bringing the books to life in this fun-filled story.
It’s an unpredictable adventure with a pretty predictable ending, but it’s tons of fun along the way!

Caress Thirus is a student at Roosevelt University and a film enthusiast.

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