The Veronica Mars Movie
Seven years after it left TV, “Veronica Mars” was resurrected as a theatrical feature. The cult series, which ran on UPN and The CW for 64 episodes from 2004-07, followed the adventures of high school-age private detective Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) who, after her best friend is murdered and her father is removed as county sheriff, dedicates her life to cracking the toughest mysteries in the affluent town of Neptune in Southern California. For several years after the series’ demise, fans clamored for more of Veronica and, finally, Bell and director-showrunner Rob Thomas put together a package for a big-screen continuation of Veronica’s saga — but the studio wouldn’t greenlight the project. Thomas and Bell decided to mount a Kickstarter crowd-sourcing campaign in 2013 to raise funds, and got a promise from the studio that the film would go into production if the duo raised $2 million. Lo and behold, the campaign raised $5.7 million from 91,585 donors in just a few days, ensuring a go-ahead for the film. The movie hit the big screen on March 14 in some 291 theatres for a box office take of $2 million; after a month in limited release, however, it ended up with only about $3.3 million … certainly not recouping its costs. The problem: The film was created for the TV series’ devotees, and never made an attempt to crossover to a wider audience. Directed by Thomas and starring Bell, Enrico Colantoni, Jason Dohring, Tina Majorino, Ryan Hansen, Percy Daggs III, Martin Starr, Krysten Ritter and Jerry O’Connell, the story picks up a year after Veronica’s high school graduation; she’s vying for a job at a hot-shot New York law firm when she’s called back to Neptune to help her old high school flame, Logan Echolls, who’s accused of murdering his current girlfriend. Once in Neptune, she gets embroiled in the murder mystery, police corruption and class warfare — as well as her 10-year high school reunion — and again takes up her sleuthing ways. For the non-fan, though mildly entertaining, the film is way too smug in its allusions to characters from the TV series who pop up here; the in-jokes and continuous snappy one-liners may have worked well on TV but fall flat on the big screen; the story line is bogged down by weak direction and sloppy pacing. It’s a TV show masquerading as a movie. Definitely for die-hard fans only. Extras: “By the Fans: The Making of the Veronica Mars Movie.” Blu-ray adds deleted scenes, gag reel, “More On-Set Fun: Welcome to Keith Mars Investigation,” “More On-Set Fun: Game Show With Kristen Bell and Chris Lowell,” “More On-Set Fun: On Set With Max Greenfield,” “More On-Set Fun: Veronica Mars’ Backers,” “More On-Set Fun: It’s Not All About You, Monkey,” “More On-Set Fun: Young Veronica.” Vitals: Director: Rob Thomas. Stars: Kristen Bell, Enrico Colantoni, Jason Dohring, Tina Majorino, Ryan Hansen, Percy Daggs III, Martin Starr, Jerry O’Connell. 2014, CC, MPAA rating: 107, PG-13 min., Comedy-Crime-Drama, Box office gross: $3.3 million, Warner. 
