An 11-year-old girl named Harriet Welsch spends her time spying on people and taking notes about them. She lives in New York City with her parents, who are pretty much average. But she has a sweet relationship with her nanny, Catherine, or “Golly,” what she calls her.

 She also has two best friends, Simon or “Sport,” his nickname, and Janie. There are other kids in her sixth-grade class that she also talks about, including the snobby and cruel Marion Hawthorne.

Harriet, Janie, and Sport spend some time with Golly after school meeting one of Golly’s friends. They have fun there.

That evening, after Harriet’s parents go out, Golly is willing to take Harriet to a movie. However, she did not have permission from Harriet’s mom or dad.

Golly and her friend from earlier take Harry to the movie theater. They have a good time.

Unfortunately, once they’re back at the Welsch’s, Harriet’s parents find out about the outing. And they are not happy. They fire Golly but then decide to let her stay. Nevertheless, Golly leaves and even assumes that Harriet doesn’t need her anymore.

Poor Harriet is heartbroken. She hides in a closet inside a nearby mansion and takes notes on the ladies nearby. But after a few minutes, she gets caught.

Regardless of no longer having Golly babysit her, Harriet still spends time with Sport and Janie. They even play at a park after school with their classmates.

But something doesn’t feel right—that is that Harriet accidentally left her notebook on the ground and picked up the wrong book. If that’s not bad enough, her classmates are reading it—including Marion. Harriet has said insensitive things about the other kids… including Sport and Janie, who turn on her.

Even worse, Harriet’s parents find out that she had been neglecting her schoolwork. As a punishment, they confiscate her notebook.

At school, everyone hates Harriet, including Janie and Sport. They do things to get back at her.

During an art lesson, one of the girls spills paint on Harriet. Although she claims that it was an accident, Harriet considers it hurtful and slaps her before fleeing the school.

Rivalry continues between Harriet and her classmates. She starts giving them revenge in different ways.

Her parents think that there is something wrong with her. So, they take her to a psychiatrist. However, he finds no issues with her mentally.

Even better, Harriet reunites with Golly, who gives her advice and suggestions on how to fix her problems. Will those tips work for Harriet?

Although this film is a comedy, I didn’t really laugh much. In fact, I will admit that the first half seemed slow due to the lower levels of tension. Yes, that was necessary. But there could have been ways to edit the scenes to make them a little more exciting.

This movie is a bit longer than an hour and a half. And it was made by Nickelodeon. So, the pacing should have been faster.

On the bright side, the second half became more exciting thanks to the increased levels of conflict. I felt bad for Harriet when her friends turned into her enemies and joined Marion’s bully group. But I did deeply admire her relationship with Golly.

I was also surprised to learn that Michelle Tractenberg, who portrayed Harriet, was only 9 when this movie was shot. She did a great job playing a character older than her. And it is rare for child actors to depict characters older than them.

The concept was also interesting: a kid who spies on people and takes notes. But this was based on a novel written in the 1960s.

One part that surprised me was the use of mild profanity. Yes, it’s rated PG. But Nickelodeon films target kids or more general audiences. I did not expect bad language like that. Because of that, I would recommend that children be at least 8 years old to see this film and mature.

Overall, I thought Harriet the Spy was decent. My main issue was the first half being less engaging.

I give this film 3.5 out of 5 stars.