Emma Roberts Shines In Otherwise Lackluster 'Nancy Drew'

Lindsay's in rehab and Paris is in jail and Britney is posting rambling letters to fans on her Web site. But teen and 'tween girls still have a wholesome role model to look up to - or rather, see eye-to-eye with - in ''Nancy Drew.''

There's something refreshingly quaint and unexpectedly necessary about the idea of this decades-old girl detective today, and rising actress Emma Roberts makes Nancy an easy character to root for.

And that's a good thing, because the immensely likable Roberts Eric, niece of Julia) also happens to be the best part of the film from director and co-writer Andrew Fleming, which offers a few laughs here and there but is otherwise contrived, cliched and stiff.

(Oscar-nominated costume designer Jeffrey Kurland deserves special praise, however, for dressing the petite star in an adorably retro array of plaid skirts and sweater sets, headbands and penny loafers. He also chose those cleavage-baring tops and micro-minis for her aunt in ''Erin Brockovich.'')

The target audience for ''Nancy Drew'' will probably enjoy it, though, which theoretically is what matters most. Overt references to classics ranging from ''Rebel Without a Cause'' to to ''Chinatown'' will surely go over their heads, and are likely to draw only the faintest smile of recognition from grown-ups who may have been dragged along to the multiplex. Adam Goldberg make cameos that register a bit more effectively.

Through it all, Roberts flits and buzzes and shines like a trouper _ or, like the Nickelodeon TV star that she is, a seasoned pro at 16 _ even when things get more complicated than they should. (Fleming co-wrote the script with Tiffany Paulsen, inspired by the Carolyn Keene series of books.)

While on an extended business trip to Los Angeles with her lawyer father , Nancy stumbles upon a mystery in the abandoned Hollywood Hills mansion the two are renting. Even though she promised Dad back in small-town River Heights that she'd stop sleuthing, she can't keep herself from investigating the death of movie star Dehlia Draycott (Laura Harring in flashbacks, harkening to ''Mulholland Dr.''.

Meanwhile, Nancy's prim, perky demeanor makes it difficult for her to fit in at a sanitized version of Hollywood High School, where mean girls Inga and Trish (Daniella Monet) and Kelly Vitz) alternately torment her and want to give her a makeover but do nothing to suggest that they're real people. Inga's little brother, Corky (the precocious Josh Flitter), develops a crush on Nancy, though, and becomes her eager partner in crime-solving.Max Theriot plays the freshly scrubbed would-be boyfriend from her hometown who conveniently shows up in L.A.)

Somewhere in the middle of all this, Nancy finds time to make a million phone calls and knock on a million doors to find the daughter (Rachael Leigh Cook) Dehlia gave up for adoption before her death decades ago, a young mother herself now who's the rightful heir to Dehlia's estate. This rouses the suspicions of a powerful lawyer (Barry Bostwick) who also may be crucial to helping her father's career, as well as the mansion's creepy caretaker (Marshall Bell).

The real mystery: When and where did Nancy Drew learn stunt driving?

''Nancy Drew,'' a Warner Bros. Pictures release, is rated PG for mild violence, thematic elements and brief language. Running time: 90 minutes. Two stars out of four.