The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written by Susan Estelle Jansen, Ed Decter, and John J. Strauss
Directed by Jim Fall
Starring Hilary Duff, Clayton Snyder, Adam Lamberg, Alex Borstein, Hallie Todd

Features:

• Featurettes: "In the Recording Studio with Hilary," "Hilary's Roman Adventure," and "Romain' Volare"
• Deleted Scenes
  
• Music Video: "Why Not"
  

Released by: Disney Home Video
Rating: PG
Region: 1
Anamorphic: Yes
My Advice: Own it if you've got a child between the ages of six and sixteen

Lizzie McGuire (Duff) is graduating from middle school and she's celebrating by taking a class trip to Rome for two weeks. Thankfully, her best friend, Gordo (Lamberg) is going, too. Unfortunately, she is being chaperoned by her new high school principal, Miss Ungermeyer (Borstein), who is a complete tyrant. She's also being forced to room with her former best friend turned snobby bitch, Kate (Ashlie Brillault). This has the makings of an absolutely horrible trip--until she is mistaken for an Italian rock star named Isabella Parigi (also played by Duff). She discovers this when she is approached by Paolo Valisari (Yani Gellman) who just happens to be Isabella's ex-boyfriend and stage partner. Paolo gives her a real tour of Rome that would make Eddie Izzard proud. And, of course, Lizzie gets mixed up in a plot to help get Paolo and Isabella back together.

Well, let me just say that this teenie-bopper movie is not as bad as some of the other ones that I've seen lately. I was almost ruined to these type of movies after I watched Britney Spears' Crossroads, but I decided to give them another chance. I'm glad I did. The difference between the two movies is that Duff can actually act. Granted, she's not tackling a role with the depth of Saint Joan, but she has also had the chance to play this role for a couple of years on television. Her character is not that much different from herself, but that's Hollywood, isn't it? The rest of the cast understand their roles in the movie very well and just get out of Duff's way while doing their best to make her look good. Other than that, the screenplay is predictable and very formulaic, but for its target audience, it works.

The DVD is pretty good considering its target demographics as well. There are a couple of deleted scenes and an alternate ending, but really there's not much to them. There is an interview section with Hilary in the recording studio working on her new CD. This interview segment is very much fluff and there are lots of shots of her sitting behind the sound board and singing into a microphone, but that's about it. There is also an extremely gooey "behind-the-scenes" featurette which is absolutely full of the cast and crew kissing every part of their fellow company members' anatomy and sugar-coating the entire experience. Finally, there is a music video for Hilary's new song called "Why Not," but it is very short and sort of a waste of space. Still, again, this is perfect for the target audience--of which I'm, of course, not a member.

So, if you have a young daughter, you could do a lot worse than to buy this movie for her. It's full of good clean fun that kids of all ages can enjoy. But if you don't, well, just be warned.