Michelle Trachtenberg,
Rosie O'Donnell,
Vanessa Lee Chester,
Gregory Smith,
J. Smith-Cameron
... see more 
The first feature film from the Nickelodeon cable channel, Harriet the Spy is an updated version of Louise Fitzhugh's best-selling 1964 children's novel. Sixth grade outcast Harriet (Michelle Trachten... read more
Directed by: Bronwen Hughes
Release Date: July 10, 1996
DVD Release Date: May 27, 2003
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Stats: 1,274 reviews
Your Rating
Flixster Reviews (1,274)
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July 9, 2011This is another movie that really inspired me when I was younger. Many people can relate to Harriet's problems in this movie, or have wanted to be spies like her at some point in their childhood. This is a good movie. Also, this movie is based on a great children's book.
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August 2, 2010True to the book, but it's fitted more for kids, so my rating is based off how I interpret it.
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July 15, 2010Probably Michelle Trachtenberg's best performance. I thought this movie was okay as a kid, but now, I like it even better. I can't quite pinpoint the quality - perhaps it's the bluesy groove or Rosie O'Donnell's straightforward delivery of the life lessons.
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June 15, 2010One of my favorites as a child. I just watched it the other day and I still enjoy it!
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January 7, 2009I remember this being quite good, if only for Michelle Trachtenberg. But I also remember it being disappointing because my imagination was cooking up far better situations than the ones played out on screen.
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May 23, 2012A brave, funny, not unintelligent treatise on growing up as a quote-unquote "writer," Harriet the Spy manages a well-developed and mature examination of obsessiveness: both negative (martyrdom, self-loathing) and positive (endless curiosity, occasional joie de vivre).
The movie'... read more
Critic Reviews
February 9, 2002
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
January 1, 2000
Keith Simanton, Film.com
There's dancing, and bubble blowing and bed bouncing that's entirely aimless and Harriet's neighborhood sleuthing becomes particularly pointless.
January 1, 2000
Tom Keogh, Film.com
The film's OK, a little thick with sensory overload, but it wasn't made for old guys like me.
January 1, 2000
Stacy Levine, Film.com
As the film progresses, the story becomes engaging.
January 1, 2000
James Berardinelli, ReelViews
Harriet the Spy is an intelligent, insightful look at the tribulations of being a creative, misunderstood misfit at age eleven. Full Review
January 1, 2000
Sean Means, Film.com
There's a certain amateurish quality about Harriet the Spy, but it's more the TV-trained grownups behind the camera...than the pint-sized thespians in front of it.
January 1, 2000
Jay Carr, Boston Globe
Fresh and charming, it never plays down to kids.
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
...the pacing is slow and there are scenes that seem amateurish... Full Review
January 1, 2000
Peter Stack, San Francisco Chronicle
Harriet the Spy has real character in some of its details, but it never feels like much more than a low-budget TV show. Full Review
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Harriet the Spy
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