Hilary Duff: All Access Pass (2003) (V)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Virgil P. Thompson

Release Date:

4 November 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Music

Tagline:

met-a-mor-pho-sis: n. 1. The transformation from actress to music phenomenon.

Cast

Hilary Duff	...	Herself
Ally Thomas	...	Herself

Runtime:

USA:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:G (DVD rating)

Unfortunately, a Very Unsatisfying DVD.

Unfortunately, this DVD only confirms the beliefs of those who attribute Hilary Duff's great success to her image and appearance. The only way someone may genuinely enjoy this DVD is if they are interested in seeing Duff in person instead of just hearing her voice (but why would that be important to anyone?) It is difficult not to notice that this DVD lacks interesting subject matter, and that it is better off simply as a CD.

I do not intend to criticize Duff for her decent, more or less freshman DVD production, but the DVD lacks a certain quality simply because Duff is new on the market. Hardly any band makes a DVD their first time out of the gate, and those who do (such as Duff) discover that their final product lacks the ambience and feel of classic Music DVDs. Take for instance, a DVD of the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1991, when it appeared as though the band was on the verge of collapsing, making for an intriguing behind-the-seens view of the band. Hell Freezes Over is another classic DVD, and part of that is due to the energy put into its production. After promising that the band wouldn't play together until "Hell Freezes Over", when they regrouped to make this DVD, the final product had a tremendous energy that cannot be replicated, simply because of the story behind the creation of the DVD. Certainly, it is equally important that the band plays well, the visual presentation is satisfactory, etc., but there is a certain intangible that cannot be achieved so early in one's career.

The behind-the-seens portions of the DVD are hardly entertaining, and the video recordings of Hilary singing her songs are just not that interesting, for these sort of video recordings are only interesting if they feature an entire band, so there are multiple focus points on the screen and enough variety in what the spectator sees to keep them interested. Producing her CD Metamorphasis was already a stretch since we all know she is by no means a musician, but this DVD is an even greater over-extension of her talent (if you believe she possess talent). It is hard so say that this DVD amounts to anything more than a marketing ploy; another way to make money off people who will purchase any product that features Hilary Duff.

This DVD is a great example of how Hilary gets by on her looks. Includes making and videos of "So Yesterday"/"Why Not", and a short version of the video "I Can't Wait". Includes home videos and photos of Hilary when she was younger, and less annoying. As far as Hilary in the studio, it includes performances of "Little Voice" and "So Yesterday" which are both lip synched, as anyone who has common sense could tell that. They also show bits of performances of some other songs on her album, also lip synched. So you see no live singing here. Just Hilary faking it.

Considering that I am not a fan, why did I watch this? My aunt, who is up-to-date with the latest trends, thought I may enjoy it since the last time I saw her was a couple of months ago and back then I had been a fan and I asked for it for Christmas and I decided to write a review.

The only people who may enjoy it are die hard Hilary Duff fans.