The movie "Veronica Mars" is listed as "comedy, crime, drama" in IMDb, and functions well as all three.
Following the practice of both comedy and mystery, the characters are presented as fairly simple, easy to understand "types", giving the audience well-defined expectations to be confirmed or contradicted for humor, plot developments or reveals. The humor is almost entirely in the form of snarky dialogue, quick-paced and sharp, but not over the top. The investigation plot would be sufficient to carry a shorter mystery story on its own, though there was a slightly contrived tone that kept it lighter than the subject matter would have otherwise demanded: they let the story follow comic beats often enough to break up the suspense and tension of a typical mystery.
A certain depth is added to both the characters and events by implicitly referencing the backstory established during three seasons of the TV show, but neither the backstory nor the need to please existing fans gets in the way of telling a complete, independent story (and a simple plot device smoothly covers most of the required "where are they now" exposition). Characters also make some abrupt choices for which one might have expected a few additional scenes of doubt or deliberation in a standard cinematic drama or rom-com. These might have been more natural developments for an audience familiar with the series.
Following the practice of both comedy and mystery, the characters are presented as fairly simple, easy to understand "types", giving the audience well-defined expectations to be confirmed or contradicted for humor, plot developments or reveals. The humor is almost entirely in the form of snarky dialogue, quick-paced and sharp, but not over the top. The investigation plot would be sufficient to carry a shorter mystery story on its own, though there was a slightly contrived tone that kept it lighter than the subject matter would have otherwise demanded: they let the story follow comic beats often enough to break up the suspense and tension of a typical mystery.
A certain depth is added to both the characters and events by implicitly referencing the backstory established during three seasons of the TV show, but neither the backstory nor the need to please existing fans gets in the way of telling a complete, independent story (and a simple plot device smoothly covers most of the required "where are they now" exposition). Characters also make some abrupt choices for which one might have expected a few additional scenes of doubt or deliberation in a standard cinematic drama or rom-com. These might have been more natural developments for an audience familiar with the series.