Movie
Review | The Lizzie McGuire Movie
Reviewed by: Brian
Orndorf
At the very end of her junior high years, Lizzie McGuire (Hilary
Duff) now has to face a whole new world of challenges in high school.
But in the meantime, she’s off to Rome on a school trip with her
class, including faithful pal, Gordo (Adam Lamberg). Leaving her
parents (Robert Carradine and Hallie Todd), and her mischievous little
brother Matt, (Jake Thomas) behind, Lizzie faces independence for the
first time in her life. Upon arrival, she is mistaken for a Italian
singing superstar by the star’s former partner, Paolo (Yani Gellman).
Before you can say “Ciao!” Paolo takes Lizzie under his wing to
train her for an important upcoming concert he has been he might have
to cancel. While Gordo keeps the trip chaperon busy (an astonishingly
unfunny Alex Borstein, “Mad TV“), Lizzie takes in the sights, the
celebrity, and the very essence of Rome: the romance.
At the very end of its wildly successful three year run on the
Disney Channel, “Lizzie McGuire” makes the leap to the big screen
with this motion picture send off. The film version of “McGuire”
isn’t exactly a gigantic departure from the television series. It
features the same alter-ego Lizzie cartoon interstitials, the same
family comedy feel, and the characters haven’t been mucked with much
too make the experience more palatable for unacquainted audiences.
What the film does is take Lizzie and Co. out of familiar surroundings
(the McGuire home, Lizzie’s school), and brings them to Rome, where
all new shenanigans can happen. Oddly, though, the focus is more on
Lizzie and Gordo this time out, with precious few moments set aside
for the McGuire clan, and a complete deletion of Lizzie’s other
friend, Miranda (who is suspiciously “in Mexico“). As minor as
they are, the changes do take some moments to get used to.
The directorial choice is a very unusual one. Jim Fall’s last
film was the highly bawdy, R-rated gay hook-up comedy “Trick,’
which makes him an interesting choice for a PG Disney film that
features maybe one or two kisses and, well, no semen jokes. Fall
probably isn’t the best man to put behind the camera for the film,
as his fondness for pratfalls and montages set to cover versions of
RuPaul songs is a little tough to swallow. But reliably enough, the
steadfast formula for “McGuire” comes back into play, and the film
is a delightful, sugary treat. If it isn’t exactly high art, it is a
fun teen-girl romp that traffics in cute boys, hip outfits, and loads
of pop music. Throw in some light morals about friendship, fame, and
trust, along with adorable scenes of teenage crushes (the last scene
in the film drew a resounding mixture of screams from the girls, and
“icks“ from the boys in the audience), and there’s something to
recommend for everybody.
The charm of “Lizzie McGuire” has always boiled down to star
Hilary Duff. Duff is a proficient comedic actress, and clearly
doesn’t find “Lizzie” much of a stretch. The film mainly serves
as the aforementioned goodbye to the show, and another chance to plug
Duff as a pop singer, which she is aggressively pursuing in real life.
She does have a nice, faintly ordinary pop voice, but she’s much
more fun in the acting department. Now that her show is over, it will
be interesting to see what Duff tackles next. Hopefully something more
dramatic.
I’m about as far removed from the target demographic as I can get
for “The Lizzie McGuire Movie,“ and I had a lot of fun with it. I
can only imagine how much more special this film is for fans of the
show who aren’t looking forward to saying goodbye. This is a nice
and bittersweet, but fitting, conclusion.
Grade: 8/10
 
COMMENTS
Date/Time of Posting: May 04 2003 /
14:09:17
IP Address: 66.137.204.73
name = megan
Email = zig92zag@yahoo.com
comments = this movie is the best!!hil did soo well on this lizzy
movie!!
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