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Title: Raise Your Voice (2004)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Hilary Duff | ... | Teresa 'Terri' Fletcher | |
| Oliver James | ... | Jay Corgan | |
| David Keith | ... | Simon Fletcher | |
| Dana Davis | ... | Denise Gilmore | |
| Johnny Lewis | ... | Engelbert 'Kiwi' Wilson | |
| Rita Wilson | ... | Francis Fletcher | |
| Lauren C. Mayhew | ... | Robin Childers | |
| Kat Dennings | ... | Sloane | |
| Jason Ritter | ... | Paul Fletcher | |
| Rebecca De Mornay | ... | Aunt Nina | |
| John Corbett | ... | Mr. Torvald | |
| Carly Reeves | ... | Kelly | |
| James Avery | ... | Mr. Gantry | |
| Robert Trebor | ... | Mr. Wesson | |
 |
Steven T. Palmer | ... | Street Drummer (as Steven 'T7' Palmer) |
This film is about a teenage girl who is very upset about her brother's death in a car crash. Terri has a love of singing and making up her own songs. Her brother (before his death) secretly submits a DVD of her singing to a musical summer camp down in L.A. Her father doesn't want her to go, but secretly her mom lets her go and everything goes fine, except she has stage fright. She gets through her stage fright with the help of her new friend Jay. At the end of the contest everyone at the musical school have to perform something. And if they win, they win a scholarship along with it. Her dad finds out, comes down to L.A. and threatens to take her home! Will he let her stay? and will she win the contest? Viewers are on the edges of their seats to find out what happens... Written by Emily Moore
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In my review of "Cheaper by the Dozen"(2003), I mentioned the difficulty Hilary Duff is going to have breaking away from typecasting as Lizzie McGuire. The fact that this movie was a Brookwell/McNamara Production, a staple of the cable network that made her famous may be another obstacle from that typecasting. Make no mistake though -- Hilary Duff *IS* a talented actress and singer(in spite of corporate punk pretensions), and even with this formulaic material she proves it. But the way things are looking now, she couldn't break out of the Disney universe if she did hardcore pornography.
Terri Fletcher(Duff) sings in a local church chorus, and for her own personal enjoyment. She also thinks her singing can make her a star, and so does her brother Paul(Jason Ritter) who secretly recommends her for a scholarship to a school for the performing arts in Los Angeles. But her father(David Keith) wants her to stay at home and wait tables at the family diner. After she and her brother sneak out to go to a concert one night, some drunk driver plows into them on the way home. Her brother dies, she survives and is left with crippling flashbacks and survivor's guilt. But just when she thinks she's going to have to spend the rest of her life at the bottom of the barrel, along comes that scholarship to the performing arts school she didn't even know she entered. Of course, the only reason she doesn't want to go is because she's afraid to face the wrath of Dad, so Mom(Rita Wilson) and Aunt Nina(Rebecca De Mornay) tell Daddy she's going to spend time with her aunt, while smuggling her off to that school. And the rest of the movie involves Terri trying to make friends in the big city, cover-up her lie to her father, and deal with her own fear of bright lights, courtesy of that random drunk driver.
Too much about this movie is predictable; The overbearing father, sympathetic avant-garde artistic aunt, the tragic car wreck, the boyfriend with an ex-girlfriend who won't let go(who Terri catches putting the moves on and thinks is unfaithful to her), and yes even the triumphant concert at the end. Having said all that, I must reiterate that I don't want my criticism of this movie to be interpreted as another Duff-bashing tirade. Because regardless of the cookie-cutter plot line, Duff is still outstanding. Yes, she's a better actress than a singer, but both of these aspects of her are far superior to the movie. And if you DON'T believe she can play anyone else but Lizzie McGuire, you should've seen her in a highly publicized episode of Joan of Arcadia from the Spring of 2005. So while it's nowhere near the fluff-piece that her first big series was, it makes you wish there were more parts out there that are better for her.