MPAA Rating: PG
Original Review Date: April 19, 2006
Reviewed by: Erin, Movie Muse
In a Nutshell: Fun and quirky, and I liked the message. Great
for tweens, despite what you might think of Miss Lohan and her
behavior of late.
Quick Plot: A New York City teen is transplanted to Jersey,
creating much real and imagined drama in her life. But if she
can *just* get in to see her favorite band at their final
concert, life will be complete.
In Detail: It was a lot of fun, and I liked it fine. With what
little I've seen of both of them, I think between Hillary Duff
and Lindsay Lohan, Lohan is the better actress. If she'll just
grow up and get over herself (and stop taking after Paris
Hilton), I think she'll make a remarkable actress. I also liked
the message of the film. The Princess Diaries bothered me
because they seemed to emphasize fitting in, most particularly
with her appearance. Here, the message was "be yourself and
don't worry so much about what others think." I was a little
concerned about some of her behavior, particularly the lying,
but it turned out fine. Not only did she lose friends and
respect for lying, she also got grounded for various things she
did that were against the rules. Be yourself, but obey the
rules, and live up to your obligations. Sounds like a fabulous
teen message to me!! I could have done without the musical
interlude every 5 minutes or so (do we really need a different
song chorus *every* time we change scenes?), but some of it was
quite good. I don't think they integrated the concert storyline
and the school musical storyline very well, but that's okay. It
was a low-budget kids' film, there's only so much you can
expect. I was most irked by the fact that the title song,
performed at the end of the school musical, had absolutely
*zero* to do with anything in the musical itself. It was simply
tacked on because there was singing involved. It is clear,
however, that it was meant as a vehicle for The Divine Miss L,
and she clearly worked hard on it. The outfit was a little
much, as were some of the others in the film, but if that's my
only complaint, then it can't have been that bad. :-)
Will I Buy It? Hmm, I'm not sure. Since I have a boy, I'm not
sure he'd appreciate it like he should, and besides, it may all
be irrelevant 10+ years from now anyway. Cute, but not
something I would watch again just for me.