Raise Your Voice (2004) User Reviews

A little formulaic, but still provides 'that peaceful loving feelin'

[~AleXa~ · 6/10 · 8 June 2005]

Hilary Duff stars as Terri Fletcher, a 16-year-old anxious to explore her musical talent at a performing arts academy in L.A. for the summer. After a little persuasion, she makes it there, and the movie is more or less about her exploits therein.

The film starts well; the Three Days Grace concert helps set the musical tone for the movie. That was an unexpected surprise, although I suppose I'm partially biased since I like the band.

A beautiful performance by Hilary Duff. I am more and more impressed with her with every movie I see her in. She brought me to tears twice in the first twenty minutes of the movie. I was impressed by the colorful array of teens at the school, even if they were chosen primarily to make it believable that they're in L.A. I appreciated that none of the teens were written to fulfill any particular stereotype and all seemed like real people, for stereotypes are a sore spot for me, as my teen years were not all that long ago.

I loved the scenes with Denise playing the violin; again, very refreshing and stylistic. John Corbett turns in a innovative performance as a progressive music teacher, breathing a little more life into the film.

The direction really helps to further the movie along, as it is pretty anti-climatic. The 'unwanted kiss' was a bit predictable, however an element of predictability is generally assumed in movies of this persuasion. The make-out scene was completely unnecessary and should've been cut.

And it should be noted that the film is more or less like a Crossroads (2000) for a slightly younger generation, but despite that, it still maintains its own life.

I absolutely love the last song in the film—that was the perfect song for the theme of the movie. And I don't care what anyone says, Hilary Duff is a true performer, even if she isn't that great of a singer. She just always has this glow about her, and no matter how I feel, seeing her perform always makes me smile, and that's something to be commended.

VERDICT: Very enjoyable musical film despite its predictability. Recommended to anyone with kids, who's young at heart, who likes Hilary Duff, or just needs a good smile, but be forewarned—you might get a little teary-eyed before that smile reaches your lips.

6.5 out of 10.0

I bought this movie hoping it was cheesy just because it was on special offer... it turned out OK...

[lawra_noshey · 5/10 · 23 August 2005]

This film did shock me in some respect. I expected it to be extremely cheesy (more so than what it was!) The music in it fitted so well. and the acting was actually at times believable (apart from the guy who played Hilary duff's dad in the film) He just wasn't right for any of the hospital scenes.

One thing that did disappoint me was the way after the crash the film used fade in/outs to get the point across that the brother had died, there was a funeral and that the friends didn't know how to act around her now. The film should of explored that a bit more rather than comment &fade out.

Overall i thought it was good. I've actually watched it more than once, but its mainly for the reason of the music and the type of instruments.

It could have been better

[Crayoff · 5/10 · 4 March 2005]

I liked the movie. It was very predictable and a bit sappy. That I could excuse. It's just incredibly unbelievable because this movie showed Hilary Duffs lack of vocal ability. I enjoy her songs but I just think that she was not of the same caliber that anyone real teen in a performing art's school would be. Duff's precious as can be in a world where you really don't need to be able to sing well to sell a record. It would have been better if they had her dubbed over entirely as opposed to just the "high" notes she couldn't hit. Once you get past that, it's a cute movie. It has an excellent cast to sell it and does just about enough to holds one attention. I can't completely trash it because I did sit through the whole movie wondering about it's outcome.

Tragically Predictable

[Ddey65 · 7 June 2005]

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.

Not quite a masterpiece, but on the right lines

[toxic1312 · 7/10 · 2 June 2005]

Hilary Duff needs to tread carefully - at the moment she's playing more or less the same character in every film she does.

Unfortunately, Raise Your Voice does little to shed that image, but on the other hand the role of Terri Fletcher has given Duff the opportunity to show off her dramatic skills as well as her "fluffy" skills, and also show the audiences that she's got quite a voice on her.

Terri Fletcher (Duff) has applied to a music college in LA, but her Dad doesn't want her to go. But when her supportive brother dies, Terri has to choose whether to obey her father or do what her brother would have wanted. Even though she blames herself for the accident, her mum and Aunt Nina (played well by Rebecca De Mornay) devise a plan to scoot her off without her Dad knowing where she's really gone. When she arrives at the college, Terri finds it hard to fit in, and memories of the car accident which left her brother dead and her wounded still come back to haunt her. But, miraculously enough, Terri manages to overcome what's holding her down, and tries to achieve the best she can.

The film has to be complemented on the fact that when they say "music college", they don't just mean lots of wannabe pop stars flocking to some high school searching for a record deal. This is actual music, with any imaginable instrument, different teachers, and a variety of people. Duff also pulls off one of her best performances to date, even though for the first bit the viewer would be forgiven for thinking they were watching the new Lizzie McGuire movie. The story itself is also enlightening, but the characters besides Terri don't develop as much as they probably should.

Still, although Raise Your Voice lacks the comedy of other teen movies such as American Pie, The Girl Next Door, and Mean Girls, it can't be faulted very much on sentiment and dramatic value, and could be Hilary Duff's best role yet.

erg...

[fillefraiche · 2/10 · 23 April 2011]

When I first saw Raise Your Voice, a film by Sean McNamara, I was eight years old and I fell in love with it. When I was eight, I had no criticism for anything. It might have had to do with the fact that I was practically obsessed with Hilary Duff, (the lead in the movie) but after re- watching it, I saw how crappy it really was.

Terri Fletcher is a16 year old girl who has an "amazing singing talent." She applies for a spot in a prestigious music school and is accepted. After the death of her brother she transform s into someone more insecure and begins to believe her own father's doubt of her to be true. Against her father's wishes she goes to the school and meets her strange rebel boyfriend with a passion for making 'music with meaning' and he teaches her to overcome her fear and sadness and cope with all disappointment (like seeing him cheating on her, or not living up to her own expectations) and perform. Some people call this inspiration. I say "bullshit."

My first judgement was of how unoriginal the characters were. You've got the characteristic nerd who falls in love with a woman way out of his league, the brilliant moody goth chick, the 'deep', sexy British guy, the rival, the hot ex, and of course, the inspirational hippie teacher. In some ways, you can make this work. But the film did not.

Starting with Terri Fletcher, the lead. She is an insecure, unstable and whiny sixteen year old with considerable 'talent'. (I would like to note that most of her singing that people find 'amazing' was done on voice over because it was out of her range, ironically because the movie emphasizes natural talent) The amount of time she spends running from place to place crying about her boyfriend, or her brother or any other crap that goes on in her life is really amazing. I understand that the character has just lost her brother. Sadly, this is not an excuse to whine and moan about everything, with a "woe is me" mindset for the ENTIRE movie (maybe not the end). For me, this is actually the opposite of inspiration. Perhaps their attempts at pushing religion down my throat was supposed to be that in some form, but it was kind of pretentious.

Hilary Duff certainly adds a layer of charm and teenager-ness to the character, and in some ways the self consciousness was necessary, but she did not deliver in this movie. She was whiny and the scenes that were important and emotionally straining were ruined simply because of poor acting and writing. The film emphasizes independent, mature youth who, through a hard journey are able to triumph, and react to disappointment (which there is so much of in the movie) sensibly like an adult would. This is countered by the whiny character that Duff portrays. The script was bad to begin with, but the acting by almost every character in the movie brought it to a whole 'nother level.

The ending was the "big showcase" where all the members of the music camp present their talents in a competition for a 10000 scholarship. Although Duff does not end up winning, she is ever so happy for her roommate, Denise, the girl who needs the scholarship because she's so poor. It was a terrible portrayal of a teenager's reaction. (I would have been crying.) But then her father, who showed up at the showcase, tells her she was amazing and that she can attend next year. Then the entire movie ends with a big musical number in the court yard that seems to have just assembled itself. (WTF? only in teen movies)

The messages to be received in this movie (which is intended for kids, btw) was mind- blowing. On the roof where she initially denies him a kiss then a few minutes and a compliment later, she puts out? Come on. She lies to her father, she deals with her problems not with hard work, or talking about them, but with tears. Duff is theoretically a good little Christian girl, but she engages in a number of immoral activities (i.e. lying to her father, covering up underage drinking, etc).

There were, however, some positive things about the movie:

Although Duff's acting was bad and the character was whiny, she did add to the movie because the character called for some self consciousness. She did go a little over board, which I admit is not necessarily her fault. She didn't write the damn thing, after all. There was a campy, feel good vibe from this movie that is enjoyable by some audiences, so I would recommend it for families and (like i was when i saw it) 8 year olds.

Overall, the movie was idealistic, predictable, pretentious, whiny and just bad. I enjoyed it when I was eight, but that might be the only time.

Another movie of trust and hope

[Sanou_san · 7/10 · 2 April 2007]

Raise your voice wasn't disappointing at all, seeing Hilary Duff flounce her singing talent would be irrefutably appropriate. Honestly the story made me cry for seconds, the plot was great and the talents of the characters were comparatively astonishing, especially the recital of musical instruments. A bit of laughs, a gradual amount of drama and seriousness is mostly focused.

If you love to hear musical movies—but this doesn't purely focus musical anecdote but the achievement of the movie lies to the fact of music being the highest elevation of one's dream. Watch it you'll not be thwarted.

Too heavy for the kiddies, too lame for everyone else

[docorange6 · 4/10 · 8 April 2005]

OK, so, we've got this great dramatic story about this girl with a great singing talent, who pushes through her father's hovering and her brother's death to get accepted into one of the premiere music schools in the country.

Great. Who do we cast as the lead? Um, Hillary Duff? You're kidding me, right?

Anyone who can buy into the premise of Hillary Duff as a singing prodigy needs to watch some American Idol reruns and realize that Duff, who can barely carry a tune, would probably have not even made it to Hollywood. She has made millions of dollars by pretending to act and sing in order to market her cuteness and general likability, which has been eaten up by her core fanbase of seven- to twelve-year-old girls. The problem with Raise Your Voice lies in the very serious, dramatic storyline crafted by writers Mitch Rotter and Sam Schreiber. It's just too serious for Duff's fanbase, and she doesn't possess the acting ability to make it believable for the rest of us.

To their credit, Rotter and Schreiber, along with director Sean McNamara, did a very skillful job in putting together an engaging drama. Some elements of the movie were brilliant, such as Terri's reaction to bright light in her eyes after the accident. The movie was just bogged down by its bungling cast of actors. The only truly good performances were by some of the supporting cast members, such as John Corbett, David Keith and Rita Wilson. Johnny Lewis was a terrific comic relief, but his character's main story - a romance with an uptight, virtuosic pianist named Sloane - seems to fit a more typical giggles-and-good-times Hillary Duff movie. Duff's abysmal singing only made McNamara's job even more difficult, and you can actually hear the pitch correction on her voice at some points of the movie, which makes everything seem that much more ridiculous. And something that especially bothered me was Jay's (Oliver James) guitar-playing during the scholarship performance. There was absolutely no rhythm to it at all.

Overall, it's still a cute movie, but it could have been so much better.

Amazing Hillary Movie!

[lindscujo31 · 10/10 · 29 August 2005]

I thought this movie was amazing!A lot of people don't like Hillary movies but this one is worth seeing.There are parts that made me wanna cry and other parts made me laugh.I think this movie is really heart-warming so all girls should see it.Guys may like it too but I think it's more on the chick-flick side.The issues with Teri are very real and the movie is played out really well around them.I really enjoyed watching it.Even if you don't particularly like Hillary,you should still see it because this is one of her best movies.It's different than her other movies and she really shines in this.Oliver James is also very good in this movie along with the rest of the cast.

Raise Your Voice

[purplegrundo · 6/10 · 20 May 2006]

Why I watched Raise Your Voice? We had it as a DVD just lying about in the house and I was so bored with no cable one day that I decided to watch it.

Anyway, the movie is about Terri Fletcher (hilary duff) whose brother Paul (jason ritter) dies in a car accident and she also gets accepted to a music school. Etc etc...

I think the bad casting in the movie was choosing Hilary to be Terri because all her roles are so similar and it gets annoying. Oh, and some of the singing is obviously prerecorded because it didn't sound like singing right now, if you get what I mean. And kinda annoying how 1/3 to 1/2 the movie all she's doing is crying.

The other supporting actors/actresses were pretty good - Oliver James, Dana Davis, John Corbett, etcc... and more.

I kind of wish that it was not so predictable. But at least that in the end, the scholarship went to Denise :)

BTW, I am a bit confused. I read in a magazine and on the back of the DVD cover and they say Ashlee Simpson is in the movie. I watched it to look for her in it but she wasn't after all. How weird. BTW don't you thing Jay's hair looks like Ryan Cabrera's?

Personally, not a Duff fan so don't be hatemailing me, OK?

Stop the false notes!

[tidira · 4/10 · 17 July 2005]

First of all I have to say that I really love Hillary Duff, I laughed out loud when I watched A Cinderella Story and together with my sister I've seen most of the Lizzie McGuire episodes.

So, I was really curious about this new movie. But if you're making a movie about a girl with an absolutely stunning voice it's really important for the actress that she actually can sing and has an absolutely stunning voice! I've heard some songs from Hillary and they were okay, but this was really horrible that all I could think was: When will she stop? But for the rest? The story is simple and done many times before and even better. At school I learned that it's really important for your characters to change, this change is what makes a simple character a good character (why would the audience want to see a movie about someone who stays the same?) but the only character changing is Hillary and her father...

I can understand why there is no big Studio involved...

Raise Your Voice 9/10

[joaniekilbride · 10/10 · 11 October 2004]

In RAISE YOUR VOICE, Terri Fletcher(Hilary Duff) has always had a close relationship with her brother, Paul(Ritter). When they sneak out to a concert and get hit by a drunk driver(Terri survives the accident,leaving Paul dead), she feels terrible. She then loses her passion for singing. She was hoping to attend a summer music program in LA, but her father(David Keith) says she can't go. Terri's mom and aunt sneak her in and tell her father that Terri is spending the summer with her aunt.

I am surprised that people didn't think this was a great change for Hilary. All of her other roles were the same; but in this, her character isn't all that different but the heartfelt script brings much emotion into Terri's role, giving Hilary the opportunity to show everyone that she can do a drama. She convinced me.

A lot of sadness is brought in through her brother's death. Hilary Duff is good at crying and the rest of the cast is pretty good. Oliver James is great at Hilary's boyfriend, Jay. And John Corrbett is fine as the loose music teacher.

Good job, Hilary. I hope to see a movie like this from you again: smart, thematic, romantic, and humorous. Mostly the thematic.

PG- thematic elements, mild language, and brief sensuality.

Predictable tearjerker!

[merrymeet_85 · 6/10 · 17 May 2005]

Raise your Voice was a good movie that held a lot of dramatic scenes with a talented and believable cast. However the movie follows a very predictable storyline of a small town , Terri Fletcher (Hillary Duff)out to achieve her dreams. It was slow to start off with, and had the common appearance of first love crushed by the jealous ex-girlfriend and then Terri and Jay get back together to do the final show(who didn't see that one coming?). Not to mention that Terri's Dad had been against her going to Los Angeles in the first place and changes his mind at the most crucial point in the movie,(very foreseeable).

This movie could have been better if the main character Terri had been recast because it is so noticeable that Hillary Duff is not singing some of those really high notes or has in fact prerecorded some of those singing numbers, which just takes away some of the believable factors of the film.

Overall,it was a descent movie, but better classified as a "Chick flick" because if you are an emotional type you'd be best to have a box of tissues next to you, cause you are going to cry.

Terrible message for Duff fans

[BlockChuckster · 2/10 · 12 February 2005]

My wife convinced me to bring this fluff little movie home, and to tell you the truth, I was disappointed for not so obvious reasons. Granted this was just another teen-queen Duff vehicle that runs on sugar and not gas, thus it doesn't get very far...

*****SPOILERS***** however, I didn't think it was appropriate for the movie to take the tack that she lied to her father (David Keith) to get into the summer program, then continue to lie to him to stay in it...then the aunt character played by Rebecca DeMornay conspired with the the mom (Rita Wilson) character to continue the lie against the father. According to the movie, the ends justifies the means. This is not a great message to teach the teens and preteens, that it's OK for a kid to lie to their parents and that it's OK for a wife to lie to her husband. No wonder this movie bombed like it did...well...there are other reasons for it's failure. I also didn't buy into the setup of the school, when stated that if you get caught doing things you're not supposed to do, (i.e., drinking, etc.) you will be dismissed. Then the Jay character (Hillary's on screen boyfriend) proceeds to go out drinking after Hillary walked in on him and another girl kissing...there are no negative consequences for him. I would have liked to see Duff take a harder stance with the issue, especially in light of the fact that her brother was killed by a drunk driver. The wrong message is put forth in that it's OK to drink when you're underage to cope with your problems, and the only consequence is spending the night on the roof with Hillary Duff. Puh-leeeeeeeze! This movie is horrible for kids today...and they had an opportunity to make it enjoyable, although it has been done before with Fame. There was one bright spot in the casting...Johnny Lewis, who plays a nerdy innovative percussionist. His character was enjoyable to watch, and hindsight 20/20, I wish the movie had starred him and taken it from his perspective.

I thought the hubris Duff showed in one interview I heard about was tragic, she was quoted as saying that it was a challenge for her to sing badly in parts of the movie to show her character's growth as a singer...ha!!! My my my, aren't we full of ourselves!!!

Heartfelt...most underrated film of the year!

[Smurfette_Smurf · 26 October 2004]

I went to see Raise Your Voice expecting the worst. What I left with was a lump in my throat and a sincere admiration for this young actress/singer Hilary Duff.

People are so hard on her and she just seems so unworthy of such criticism. Sure it's a squeaky clean Fame...and it's kinda cliché. But...the performances of Hilary as well as her supporting cast were honorable. This movie certainly doesn't deserve the bashing it's getting.

I was especially impressed with the young supporting cast including Kat Dennings, Johnny K. Lewis and Dana Davis. Not to mention John Corbett who by far was one of the greatest things in this film.

I cared...I cried...and when it was all over I honestly felt inspired.

I give this film a 6 out of 10...because it makes u care..it really does.

If you want to sing out, sing out (but do it more subtle)

[StevePulaski · 6/10 · 13 May 2014]

Raise Your Voice succeeds on a surprisingly tolerable and almost recommendable level, given the manufactured and star vehicle vibes it allows to seep through. The film ostensibly appears to be nothing more than an advertisement to young teen girls about how cool it is to be young, blonde, on your own, and possessing a singing voice any girl would envy. On the surface, I was almost ready to declare Raise Your Voice a film Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen should've starred in.

Yet, upon sitting through it, it dawned on me how much of a screen-presence and a good-natured soul Duff is. This is only my second outing with her, after the mediocre girl-power film The Lizzie McGuire Movie proved to be nothing but a forgettable retread of tired teen drama, and while she lacks the career-diversity of some other stars her age, she doesn't feel programmed and micromanaged to hell by executives like the Olsen twins. With Raise Your Voice, Duff has to at least try and be believable and convey emotion, playing Terri Fletcher, a teenager with aspirations of being a singer-songwriter for a living. These plans are wholly disapproved by her overprotective father Simon (David Keith), who takes after his father's work as a restaurant manager.

While her mother Frances (Rita Wilson) understands her dream, Terri is heavily supported by her elder brother Paul (Jason Ritter). After a family barbecue, Simon grounds Paul, who, in turn, sneaks out with Terri late at night to attend a Three Days Grace concert. On the way home, Paul and Terri get into a car accident that leaves him dead and her badly injured. After this, knowing that she's responsible in part for Paul death, loses all interest in singing and shuns off a music program offering a $10,000 college scholarship that she was previously very passionate about.

Frances understands that Paul supported Terri and her musical aspirations and would've wanted her to attend the program in order to have a shot at receiving a hefty scholarship and a networking opportunity for her voice. With opposition coming in the form of Paul, Frances tells him that their daughter plans to live at their aunt Nina's (Rebecca De Mornay) beach-house in Palm Desert over the summer. So now Terri is off to attend this music program to network, perfect her skills, make friends, and raise her voice.

Duff's Terri is forced to show a great deal of unbridled emotion in this film, moreso than I would've expected for a film that appeared to be a cut-and-paste assortment of teen dramas gone past. In addition, don't mistake Terri's emotions for typical sorrow and woe; numerous scenes show the grieving process and how Terri attempts to muster herself up to sing and carry on her potential carry but is simply brought down by the amount of turmoil and tragedy that plagues her emotions.

Despite Duff's capable work here, it's too bad the film at hand has only subpar expectations for her. She is still forced to recite obvious dialog, follow an obvious path of circumstances, to an obvious ending of obviousness. The good news is at least writer Sam Schreiber recognizes pitfalls and certain brutal honesties character must overcome, such as a family death, parental disapproval of a decision, and the struggle to fit in at somewhere you thought you belonged but feel alienated in.

Raise Your Voice was released in 2004 to middling box office returns, when Duff's mainstream movie career was nearing a close and she'd be shifted to blurbs in tabloids and teen magazines rather than being front-page news. It marks a higher point in her career when she seemed to be desperately trying to release an inner-voice of her own, despite evident pressures from studios to keep her young, smiley, and untouchable. The film should be recalled as that, but also one that shows that while Duff may've tried to mature, that doesn't mean the same for her film's story lines.

Starring: Hilary Duff, Oliver James, Jason Ritter, Dana Davis, Kat Dennings, Rita Wilson, David Keith, Rebecca De Mornay, and John Corbett. Directed by: Sean McNamara.

Only watch if you have nothing better to do and that includes clipping toenails

[graciechick · 1/10 · 22 January 2005]

I would like to preface this statement by saying that I have never really been a Hilary Duff fan and so I entered this movie with a clear bias against it. However, even if I was viewing cold, I still would have hated the movie. Let's start with the acting. Very boring/standard across the board, with no knockout exceptions. Basically, it was mediocre. While the leads weren't fantastic, neither was anyone else. The only exception I could possibly grant would be for the emo goth piano playing chick. The script was stunted and awkward at best. Entirely predictable and "feel good" artsy. My personal favorite scene was Hilary/British punk boy on the roof where she initially denies him a kiss then a few minutes and a compliment later, she puts out. Also, Corbett at one point says "Artists feel things differently then other people." Come on. If that's not pretentious, I don't know what is. I would also like to comment on the lack of talent. Supposedly, Duff was accepted to the most prestigious music school in the US. Why, then, was everyone's talents only slightly above average? The big choir project was the Hallelujah chorus, which I sang in high school. I'm not saying that the kids were bad; I'm just saying they certainly weren't the epitome of talent for their age group. I would also like to question the movie's moral intent. Duff is theoretically a good little Christian girl, but she engages in a number of immoral activities (i.e. lying to her father, covering up underage drinking, etc). Even though both were for a good cause, I then would examine a script that would glorify such behavior. Even if her father was unable to give up his own emotional baggage for the sake of his daughter, does that really constitute and justify such extreme behavior? And really, why is her mother enabling her husband's weaknesses? Marital problems are best worked out when the children aren't used as pawns. As for the drinking, Hilary not only hides British punk boy on the roof, but then stays with him all night. Alone. On the roof. After he kissed the other girl. What does that teach girls? I'm not a prude by any means, but this was advertised as a movie I would want to take my little 7 year old sister to.

In the future, I would only watch this movie drunk. Bad choice, bad acting, bad script, bad movie. Cheap laughs for cinematic disaster.

Give this movie a break!

[dinosarker · 7/10 · 27 May 2005]

Now always, does this website have appropriate ratings for movies. This is one of the case. I admit, this is not the best movie ever made, but why do people have to criticize it? Yeah, okay, it gets pretty boring in the middle, but the ending makes up for it.

At first, Hilary Duff (Terri)loses her brother as he dies in a car crash... who wanted her to be a singer. She uses this as a motivation to become a singer. Oh, and when she goes to this music school, she meets this dude Oliver James (Jay) and they kinda fall in love. Although, Hilary Duff's acting is not at all convincing. But give her some time, won't you? She'll catch up! But I loved that girl, who plays the piano and looks rather cranky all the time. She's cool! On the whole, the movie is very, very touching, especially in the end... because of the song, called 'Someone's watching over me', sang by Hilary Duff. It's an awesome song! And I suppose this is what compensated for the all the little flaws in the film 7/10

I'm raising my voice in the bad way

[blue_wave_aqua · 4/10 · 15 December 2006]

Yes. I'm pretty much screaming why I hate this movie. Here's why I didn't like it: 1. Too cliché.

2. If Teri's voice is so good why'd this movie do horribly? 3. Acting is bad in this movie.

4. Guys don't say 'stay away from me' 5. A lot of the times lip-syncing was not with words.

6. Sometimes when Teri sings, you can tell that's not her voice.

7. The plot line is too simple. Dad overprotective, lies and goes to a music school, falls in love with guy at school, dad sees daughter point of view....then done. It's been done before probably even in year 547 B.C.

8. The beginning looked okay, but then it got awkward after Teri meets Jay.

9. Teri cries too much about every little thing. Robin, Spotlights, Jay 'cheating'.

10. How can everyone at the same time all play instruments? 11. If you look on www.rottentomatoes.com , This movie always gets around 12%-24% by critics and users 48% 12. The dad is too over-protective.

13. On average.....this movie would've made a god Disney channel movie, not a nation-wide-premiere-all over the world type thing.

14. The only people who like this movie that I've known are people ages 6-10 15. Songs in movie were nothing but Cheesy GARBAGE!!! Those are my reasons. You can harp at me all you want, but I will still say this movie is bad. I could go on with reasons....but those are my top 15.

The movie does NOT suck...

[dawnkelley · 10/10 · 19 December 2004]

I'm so sorry to see so much negativity about this movie. It's apparent to me that people that don't see the value of it, just plainly don't like Hilary Duff. Whether you like her or not, this movie has great potential.

I am an adult with a teenage daughter, and I happen to love the storyline...it showed great character in how some kids deal with adversity. Never mind, that we all knew Hilary would be a great singer, and how it was portrayed. So what? I enjoyed the storyline, and was caught by surprise on the tragedy. Note in the end, the prize went to her friend, and it was a great moment.

I guess I just enjoy a great movie when I see it!

Very underrated film starring Hilary Duff.

[lisafordeay · 6/10 · 3 November 2023]

Re- edited 8th January 2024

Raise Your Voice is a 2004 teen drama starring Hilary Duff,John Corbett,Oliver James,Jason Ritter,Rebecca De Morany and Rita Wilson.

Directed by Sean McNamara(Casper Meets Wendy),the story follows a young girl named Threasa "Tess" Fletcher(Duff) who's brother Paul(Ritter)got killed in a car accident after leaving a rock concert with Tess,who was the solo occupant to survive the crash.

Heartbroken by Paul's passing she swore she would never sing again until she discovers that her brother sent her audition tape to a popular music school program in LA,and she is taught by a music teacher named Mr Trovold(Corbett).

Later she meets a boy named Jay Corghan(James) who helps her believe in herself again and that she wasn't at fault over her brothers passing. Will she sing again and follow her brother's dream?.

Overall it was a very decent film. The acting was decent,the story was good(if not sad) and its a criminally underrated film. The only gripe I had was one particular scene where Tess is suppose to sing and you can tell its not her doing the singing practise.

Try and track it down and see what you think of it.

B-

Nice film.

totally underrated movie

[gsmoore81 · 4/10 · 20 May 2005]

I do not understand why anyone would rate this movie anything less than a perfect 10. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, the characters were great (all movies make high-end music students look like snobby prima-donnas). I have seen every Hilary Duff movie to date and this is definitely her best work. Compared to "A Cinderalla Story", this movie has 10 times the quality and entertainment value. I thought Terri's relationship with her brother was very moving - and the scene where she first saw his DVD that was sent to the school was very well done - I could almost feel her grief. The teachers were well done. Thanks to everyone who made this film. I will be purchasing the DVD. Remember that Hilary is 16 years old when this was filmed - I look forward to the next decade as Hilary finishes her teens and goes into her 20's. My only complaint about Hilary - lose the fake hair - just let yours grow - it looks better.

Inspiring

[JesseMccartney_lover · 10/10 · 27 August 2005]

I loved this movie just from watching the previews ..and I'm a huge Hilary Duff fan the day it came out i went to the theaters and the day it was released we were proud owners so meaning owning a copy of this movie its excellent its very inspiring and uh my dream is to become a singer/songwriter so this movie was very very inspiring to me and showed me u could do anything u put your mind to..anyone who hasn't seen it i recommend it to u this is one of my all time favorite movies i cannot forget..(i cried from like the very beginning) go out to the store and get it. Everyone of course has different opinions and points of view. but this is my honest opinion on this movie not just because I'm a big Hilary duff fan or anything like but i relate to tiny things in this movie like the fact that her dream is to sing. It has lots of emotion (this movie) and if there are any Hilary Duff fans reading this rite now..heres an awesome website that tells you anything u like to know about hil. www.oh-Hilary.com

Great Entertainment!

[zterry2 · 7/10 · 15 February 2005]

IMHO this movie did what is was suppose to do. Plain and simple! It was a fun, entertaining movie. Very light comedy, A little romance, and a little of life's realities. It made you laugh! It made you cry. It made you think. It made you feel good. One reviewer did not like the fact that the mother, Aunt and daughter lied to the father. I guess he never lied to his father. The daughter apologies for this in the end. I enjoyed the music and the way it was presented. The supporting cast was outstanding. I would watch it again. Probably will since I have the DVD now. I guess some of the other reviewers don't like to be entertained for a couple of hours.

Top Music School?????

[Jenn K. · 3/10 · 25 April 2005]

As a music teacher, I was extremely disappointed with the quality of music performed by the vocal students in this movie. For instance, the choir teacher tells the choir on the first day of class that the piece he is teaching them is full of counterpoint and too difficult for them to learn and perform well... but it's just the "Hallelujah Chorus", a well-known and easy piece. And much is made of Duff's character getting into the "top music school in the country", but the way she sings, she would have no business being there. She has no breath support, doesn't open her mouth, and adds a pop flavor to the classic Italian aria "Caro Mio Ben". It doesn't make sense. This movie has too many musical holes in it to be enjoyable. Even the faculty ensemble that is shown playing at the beginning is not comprised of real musicians (except for the violinist?)And where are the chaperons... they're not keeping 16-year-olds from having free reign in the city of Los Angeles. Disappointing. Saving grace: Duff's character has a boyfriend but hesitates to even kiss him.