Harriet the Spy is a nickelodeon film from the 90s that rode on the success of children's novels by the same name. The film itself if very typical childrens fare, but what it lacks in invention it gains in a myriad of able child actors and a surprisingly grounded performance by Rosie O'Donnell. O'Donnell here plays Golly, Harriets nanny of sorts. Golly is the kind of mentor character we see in most movies where she is given lines of insight to speak into young Harriet's life and the two have an endearing exchange of the poem "The Walrus and the Carpenter." While many of these lines and much of this character could have been sacrificed to triviality, it is O'Donnell that gives her character presence. Ms. O'Donnell looks at young Harriet with such undying parental affection that if you didn't see Harriets mother you might think that Golly was her mother. She is more than a mentor and we see this in just how O'Donnell carries her character and how she delivers her lines. It is also O'Donnell that takes what could have been a tirelessly sappy character and makes her a strong person who, even to this day, I wish was my nanny to guide me through the trials of elementary school. Is her performance oscar worthy? Perhaps not, but she takes a childrens movie filled with fluff and gives it a sense of gravitas, she gives a surprising performance in a surprising place.
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