Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004)

User Rating:

4.3/10   

Director:

Sara Sugarman

Writers (WGA):

Dyan Sheldon (book)
Gail Parent (screenplay)

Release Date:

20 February 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Music | Romance

Tagline:

So much drama, so little time.

Plot:

A teenage girl is convinced that her home city revolves around her until her family packs up and moves to the suburbs, where she finds herself competing for attention.

Plot Keywords:

Suburb | Band | New York City | Friend | Teenager

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Lindsay Lohan	...	Mary Elizabeth Cep / Lola
Adam Garcia	...	Stu
Glenne Headly	...	Karen
Alison Pill	...	Ella
Eli Marienthal	...	Sam
Carol Kane	...	Miss Baggoli
Megan Fox	...	Carla
Sheila McCarthy	...	Mrs. Gerard
Tom McCamus	...	Calum
Richard Fitzpatrick	...	Mr. Gerard
Sheila Sealy-Smith	...	Sgt. Rose
Ashley Leggat	...	Marcia
Barbara Mamabolo	...	Robin
Maggie Oskam	...	Paige
Rachael Oskam	...	Paula

Also Known As:

Bekenntnisse einer Highschool Diva (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild thematic elements and brief language.

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG (certificate #40581) | Iceland:L | Norway:A | South Korea:All | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Canada:G | Finland:K-7 | Germany:o.Al. | Netherlands:AL | Philippines:G | Singapore:PG | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Birchmount Collegiate, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Company:

Walt Disney Pictures

Trivia:

The role of Lola Stepp was first offered to Hilary Duff.

Goofs:

Continuity: When biking to school for the first time, Lola's backpack changes arms after she parks. The cut is too quick for her to change arms between shots.

Quotes:

Lola: I sunk into a depression only Hamlet would recognize.

Movie Connections:

References The Parent Trap (1998)

Soundtrack:

Life is Beautiful

Confessions should never be this dull.

Yawn, yawn and yawn once again. Lindsay Lohan stars in a bleached-out, mega-bland, by the numbers Disney outing and thoroughly wastes her talent in a lead role that could have been filled by . . . . a Barbie doll, for all the realism and emotion needed.

The story concerns a young girl (Lohan) with an over-active imagination who decides to "exaggerate" details of her life to make herself seem more interesting after moving from New York to New Jersey. It's fairly obvious that her lies will come back to bite her on the backside and that lessons will be learned. It's also fairly obvious how her new best friend will react to any revelations. Oh, and it's fairly obvious when the girls' favourite band breaks up and are having one last concert and then exclusive party exactly how things will pan out during THAT particular evening. As I said at the start of this review. YAWN!

The cast are completely wasted in this fairytale that I can't imagine appealing to anyone except the most undemanding viewer. Lohan is always watchable but her character has no real depth or even a decent arch to work through. All of her emotions are exhibited through annoyingly literal musical cues (HAPPY songs mean that she is HAPPY and vice versa) Her friend (played by Alison Pill) comes from the Disney stable of rent-a-kids. The "arch-enemy" gets the better moments and is well played by Megan Fox, who really keeps her nails well-filed and ready to scratch. As for the adults here, great names like Carol Kane and Glenne Headly are given a few decent moments but then cast aside for the dream-chasing teens. Which may well be as things should be but doesn't stop the viewer regretting not being able to see more of those great performers.

There isn't really even enough here to keep kids amused although the 7-14(ish) young female market may think this is a fantastic film and that's the only demographic I can see being won over by this film. It offends nobody but also barely entertains anyone. Watchable, but only just.

See this if you like: The Prince & Me, Lindsay Lohan, Uptown Girls.