Harriet the Spy

PG

Released Jul 10, 1996

1h 41m

Kids & Family

Comedy

Drama

List

48%

31 Reviews

Tomatometer

50%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Harriet (Michelle Trachtenberg) may only be in the sixth grade, but she's already found her calling: to be a spy. In a private journal she takes everywhere, Harriet records suspicious activity and keeps a running list of observations on virtually everyone she knows. It seems harmless enough until, one day, someone finds the journal and exposes Harriet's critical thoughts about her classmates. Suddenly, even her best friends are against her, and Harriet resolves to take revenge.

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Critics Consensus

Harriet the Spy is a rapid-fire mystery movie that doesn't have much to offer beyond the two decent lead performances.

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Michael W

This Nickelodeon movie was terrible. Michelle Trachtenberg, Rosie O'Donnell, Vanessa Lee Chester, Gregory Smith, Charlotte Sullivan, and the rest of the cast did a terrible job in this movie. The story of the movie was dull, tedious, and exhausting. It's about a girl who spies on people and is obsessed with her notebook. That's very strange. I was just a kid when this movie hit theaters, but I never saw it. If I did, I would say that this movie was terrible just like I'm saying right now. If you haven't seen this movie yet, don't waste your time. It's not worth it.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

09/24/23

Full Review

Omri F

I think people are missing the point. Yeah, she doesn't quite understand what being a spy means. That's childhood. It's about the balance of maintaining friendships and doing what you love, and I think that's a nice message.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

07/31/23

Full Review

Chris M

The story is a bit unfocused. Plus, unless she said she wanted to write for newspaper, I don't understand how spying on the people will teach her to be a writer? Plus, the only villain is the cliché mean girl. Which is odd that a girl in the 6th grade would be that jaded. Plus that young able to control the whole school against her is odd too. The sequel does make her a high school blogger which makes a tad more sense. This is probably a flaw with the books. But at least it didn't go in the direction I was expecting. But it's not horrible, it has a lot of likable moments. Just enough to keeping it from a meh grade, but not by much.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/10/23

Full Review

Red T

It's ok but honestly I thought there would be a more clever plot that would involve her spy hobby/skills. It kind of feels like especially watching the trailer it is a bit misleading this is really a coming of age sort of story rather than a witty spy kids spy plot. The editing is the weakest part here and isn't very good as it feels like for over half the film stuff just happens with no real cohesive story at times with the plot coming in at only certain intervals. This leads to a passable pacing mainly because the girl actor is actually half decent and does a above average job carrying the plot. I feel Rosie should've had a much bigger part and would've helped make this more charming. The camerawork is actually half decent also with some creative camera shots at times but settings and scenes are forgettable. The music is ok with some old school soul numbers but kind of forgettable. Overall there really isn't much to offer here and there really isn't anything bad, it's charming enough. Any fans of Rosie or Michelle Trachtenberg should give this a watch but outside of that I'd say skip this.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

There are some great kid's movies out there, and this isn't one of them. This movie is bad. It's not funny at all. Harriett isn't a spy, she's more of a stalker. I wish I had that 90 minutes of my life back. My kids and I won't watch it again.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/02/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A boring, tedious, lifeless, Nickelodeon movie with terrible comedy, no worthy plot, and bad acting from everyone.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

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Bronwen Hughes

Director

Michelle Trachtenberg

Harriet M. Welsch

Rosie O'Donnell

Ole Golly

Vanessa Lee Chester

Janie Gibbs

Gregory Smith

Sport

J. Smith-Cameron

Mrs. Welsch

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Harriet the Spy: Official Clip - Tiny Hole Inside Me

2:06

Harriet the Spy: Official Clip - Blue Paint

1:19

Harriet the Spy: Official Clip - A Good Spy Never Gets Caught

1:15

Harriet the Spy: Official Clip - Windchime Garden

2:10

Harriet the Spy: Official Clip - Experiment With Mold

1:32

Harriet the Spy: Official Clip - Big Slice of Heaven

1:38

Harriet the Spy: Official Clip - The Child Psychologist

1:55

Harriet the Spy: Official Clip - Golly Says Goodbye

2:09

Harriet the Spy: Official Clip - The Private Notebook Revealed

2:12

Harriet the Spy: Official Clip - Paying for Groceries

1:16

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Owen Gleiberman

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: B+

Sep 7, 2011

Full Review

Hollis Chacona

Austin Chronicle

Rated: 2/5

May 6, 2003

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Globe and Mail

Rated: 2.5/4

Apr 12, 2002

Full Review

M. Faust

Common Sense Media

Fans of the book will want to see this film.

Rated: 4/5

Jan 2, 2011

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

A below mediocre adaptation of the popular novel that is nonetheless served well by the two female leads, but all representative of the adults world (parents, teachers, psychologists) are narrow, standard-issue constructions.

Rated: C

Oct 30, 2006

Full Review

Michael Szymanski

Zap2it.com

Rated: 3/5

Sep 21, 2005

Full Review

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Synopsis

Harriet (Michelle Trachtenberg) may only be in the sixth grade, but she's already found her calling: to be a spy. In a private journal she takes everywhere, Harriet records suspicious activity and keeps a running list of observations on virtually everyone she knows. It seems harmless enough until, one day, someone finds the journal and exposes Harriet's critical thoughts about her classmates. Suddenly, even her best friends are against her, and Harriet resolves to take revenge.

Director: Bronwen Hughes
Producer: Debby Beece
Screenwriter: Louise Fitzhugh, Greg Taylor, Douglas Petrie, Theresa Rebeck
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Paramount Pictures, Rastar Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies
Rating: PG
Genre: Kids & Family, Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 10, 1996, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $26.6M
Runtime: 1h 41m
Sound Mix: Surround

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