So Undercover (2012)

A tough, street-smart private eye is hired by the FBI to go undercover in a college sorority.

Director:

Tom Vaughan

Writers:

Allan Loeb, Steven Pearl

Stars:

Miley Cyrus, Jeremy Piven, Mike O'Malley

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Miley Cyrus	...	Molly / Brook
Jeremy Piven	...	Armon
Mike O'Malley	...	Sam
Josh Bowman	...	Nicholas
Lauren McKnight	...	Alex
Kelly Osbourne	...	Becky
Eloise Mumford	...	Sasha
Megan Park	...	Cotton
Morgan Calhoun	...	Hunter
Alexis Knapp	...	Taylor
Matthew Settle	...	Professor Talloway
Autumn Reeser	...	Bizzy
Brian Peterson	...	Zingadi
Ric Reitz	...	State Senator
Leticia Jimenez	...	State Senator's Girlfriend

Storyline

Molly is a teen who works with her father, an ex-cop turned P.I. One day an FBI agent approaches and wants her to work for them. They want her to keep an eye on the daughter of a man who is going to testify against a criminal. So they send her to the college where the daughter is attending. And she tries to fit in while keeping an eye on her and trying to see if there's someone there who doesn't appear who they are.

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Plot Keywords:

short skirt with heels | sexiness | sex toy | chick | product placement | 

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Taglines:

COLLEGE... It's the most dangerous assignment of all.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some mature and suggestive content

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film has been released in theatres of only 13 countries worldwide.

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Goofs

A large steel bridge looms overhead during a scene set in Dallas, Texas. There are no such bridges anywhere near Dallas because the topography is generally flat and none of the local rivers are navigable by ships.

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Quotes

Nicholas: You don't go to school here do you?
Molly: Course I do. Why would you think that I don't? I'm in my late teens, I'm walking on campus, I got a pretentious name and a sparkly cellphone.

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Crazy Credits

Outtake scenes appear on one side of the screen for the first few minutes of the end credits.

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Connections

Featured in Projector: So Undercover (2013)

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Soundtracks

Barber of Sevilla Overture
Written by Gioachino Rossini
Courtesy of APM Music

User Reviews

A Nutshell Review: So Undercover

Once in a while we need a teeny bopper chick flick to update us on the lingua franca used by youths today, so from Clueless which led the contingent in the mid 90s, we now have Miley Cyrus doing the same with her new film So Undercover, which is based on the cliché laden premise of a cop of sorts, because of one's still youthful attributes, getting assigned as an undercover on a mission back in school, and taking to it like a fish out of water, having to relive bad memories and experiences, encounter romance with either a fellow student or teacher, and get to save the day.

Making things worse is having to be assigned to a sorority of sisters in the KKZ sorority house, being amongst yet another group of clichéd characters who are the usual vain pots, bimbos, back stabbing rich kids who dream of Bentleys and having to marry scions of senators, spending time dolling up than actually studying in school. Is it the Hollywood cliché now that the nerds in writing departments actually get back at their high school or college nightmares through film in this fashion by painting everyone in sorority and fraternity houses as such? One can only guess.

In any case, Miley Cyrus plays Molly, a rather tom-boyish go-getter of a private investigator in her dad's small firm in Dallas, before getting hired by FBI agent Armon (Jeremy Piven) to assist in a case involving the mob, a key witness, the witness' daughter Alex (Lauren McKnight) and some ledgers. Needing the money to bail her dad out of trouble, Molly accepts the role, gets transformed into college student complete with wardrobe, accessories, vehicle and weapons, to investigate into anything that's out of the ordinary. Nothing is out of bounds when required to use her skills to break into fellow sisters' rooms and rummage through their belongings, for clues of anyone being a suspect waiting in the wings to get at Alex.

Expect the usual episodes complete with the quintessential bimbo (Megan Park) written into the story just for weak laughs, the easily envious head of the sorority house (Eloise Mumford) ever looking over her shoulder for threats to her power, and well, the rest of the forgettable actresses in thankless roles that you won't remember much of once you step out of the cinema hall. Romance comes in the form of Cameron (Cameron Deane Stewart), being probably the only guy in college who rides a Triumph motorcycle, together with tons of red herrings that pop up now and then to keep one guessing in this tired tale of who-could-be- whom, and for Molly to show off some deducting skills every now and then, while frequently tripping up over the latest girly lingo, which isn't too funny nor going to be included in the Oxford anytime soon.

There's a neat plot development in the film for the final act that finally lifted the narrative from its lacklustre slumber, but that was too little too late, and unfortunately didn't hold up to scrutiny because it introduced a gaping plot loophole involving resource issues. I'm not quite sure who the intended demographic is for this film, because Miley Cyrus fans would already get it that she's trying to move further away from her Hannah Montana days by taking on roles that are less saccharine sweet, but skirting around characters like this one won't do her film career any good. She probably needs to tackle stronger dramatic roles if given a chance to really break out of her stereotype.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 December 2012 (United Arab Emirates)

Also Known As:

I'm Like Sooo Undercover

Filming Locations:

Windsor Court Hotel - 300 Gravier St, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,562,285

Company Credits

Production Co:

Exclusive Media Group, Crystal City Entertainment, Scarlet Fire Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1