VERONICA MARS

Stars: Kristen Bell, Jason Dohring, Chris Lowell, Percy Daggs III, Tina Majorino, Krysten Ritter, Martin Starr, Enrico Colantoni, Francis Capra, Ryan Hansen, Gaby Hoffman, Ken Marino and Jamie Lee Curtis.
Writer: Rob Thomas and Diane Ruggiero.
Director: Rob Thomas.

Rating: 3.5/5

Having crowdfunded the project to the tune of US$5million, series creator Rob Thomas honours the ‘money where their hearts are’ wishes of the hardcore fans, delivering what amounts to a really, really good bigscreen TV episode of his cult show, Veronica Mars.

Some snazzy pre-credit imagery recaps the key details of the series for non-fans before we meet the adult incarnation of our heroine. Mars has left her So-Cal enclave of Neptune and is on the verge of making it big as a Manhattan lawyer, having secured a job with Jamie Lee Curtis’ firm.

But the murder of her highschool friend implicates her bad boy teen sweetheart Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring) and, despite her better judgement, Mars returns to her hometown to solve the mystery. She puts at risk her blossoming career and sweet home life she shares with nice guy bf, Piz (Chris Lowell) to revisit the place and people she left behind

If the plotting sounds a little too ‘reunion episode’ familiar (which it is), Thomas makes the most of every character interaction and emotional beat. Most of the returning cast are given ample room to deliver a crowdpleasing moment or two; best amongst them Ryan Hansen lovable doofus Dick, Waterworld moppet Tina Majorino now all grown up as Mac and Enrico Colantoni as Mr Mars. Less convincing is Dohring, who fails to translate whatever small-screen appeal he had to the broader canvas.

Of course, it is Kristen Bell who has exhibited the strongest career trajectory since the series folded and she brings all her leading lady experience; her skill as an actress allows her to fill the screen while never foregoing the sweet but tough essence of the teen Veronica which made her semi-famous.

Unlike the usual TV-to-film adaptions that have been de rigeur in Hollywood for the last couple of decades, Veronica Mars is not a flagrant exercise in ‘bigger is better’ expansion, the likes of which traditionally provide very mixed results (recent notables include The X-Files, The Last Airbender, Get Smart and Miami Vice). Thomas’ effort remains determinedly loyal to its source with only the occasional and therefore highly effective indulgence in cinematic licence. Perhaps most remarkable for being diligently unremarkable, Veronica Mars is exactly the film that fans were pining for and offers the kind of confident, small-scale storytelling that is eminently watchable to those new to the ‘marshmallow’* army.

* A term used to describe fans of the show, it is derived from the first episode, in which friend Wallace (Percy Daggs III) says to the tough but soft-hearted heroine, "You're a marshmallow, Veronica Mars."