The strength of "Dear Eleanor" was in the scripting that included clever dialogue and situations filled with nostalgia of the early 1960s. From start to finish, the scenes were lively as two teenagers take to the road for a cross-country trip from California to New York to visit Eleanor Roosevelt in 1962.

The film starts in the breadbasket of California in Manteca. A young girl's mother dies tragically in an auto accident just before she could deliver a short speech introducing Eleanor Roosevelt. To honor her mother, the main character enlists her best friend to make the trip to New York. Along the way, there is a series of improbable events. While most of the scenes are silly, there is nonetheless good humor and charm throughout the film.

Part of the charm of the film derives from the screenwriters' references to movies and culture of the early 1960s. While serious events are introduced, such as the Cuban Missile Crisis, the writers keep the mood light, constantly interjecting humor and silliness. The most absurd situation was a traveling companion picked up by the girls, who is an escaped convict, who bails them out of difficulty when they are arrested. Later, the convict inexplicably drops out of the plot by boarding a single-engine airplane and flying off into the sunset. Without a doubt, the scenes with convict are the funniest in the film, especially the banter that implies that the man might be one of the felons from Alcatraz, who made a daring prison break at this time.

While the character of Eleanor Roosevelt was not developed in much depth, she was still given a fine tribute for her many humanitarian achievements, not the least of which was delivering her own speech about civil rights in the face of threats from the KKK. This was a thoughtful film with both humorous and touching moments from writers with excellent potential.

It's 1962 small town California. Caroline Potter is set to make a speech to her hero, former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. She is killed in a car accident on the same day that Marilyn Monroe died and her daughter Ellie (Liana Liberato) blames herself for it. Her father Bob Potter (Luke Wilson) is overwhelmed and hopeless with his many kids. Her best friend Max (Isabelle Fuhrman) writes to Eleanor Roosevelt. Billy has a crush on Max and forges a reply to please her. The girls decide to drive to New York so that Ellie could finish an important quest. Along the way, they are joined by escaped convict Frank Morris (Josh Lucas) and Max's Aunt Daisy (Jessica Alba) with the Cuban Missile Crisis in the background. Ellie gets a kiss from hunky Bud (Patrick Schwarzenegger).

It's trying to be a light road trip with some wacky screwball fun. It's trying to be a nostalgic romp but I doubt the writers are from that era. It's trying to be a tearful coming-of-age story but the mother doesn't have enough time to set it up. It's trying to be a female empowering friendship movie but the girls are being teenage girls. They need more than a talkative Max to elevate the friendship to BFF4Ever. The only truly satisfying character plot line comes from Aunt Daisy. Her journey is a good solid standard self-empowering journey. The escaped convict story has all the wrong tones and needs to be eliminated. It's trying to be comedic but elements of the story really clash with that tone. The movie needs to start with more of the mother and her obsession with Eleanor Roosevelt. Once that is established, Ellie's journey would be much more compelling. This is written and directed by people who can't deliver the time period or the story elements to make this work. I do like the characters and the actors which helps. Otherwise, it's not a compelling drive.

Cute movie and story. But the two girls acted too modern and not enough attention was paid to the speech and demeanor of the people to match the 1960s. I think maybe it should have just been set in modern day and it would have still worked and the viewer wouldn't have that in the back of their minds the whole time. Still wondering why that kid's lips are blue.