Raise Your Voice | ||||
Sean McNamara Hilary Duff, Oliver James, Rebecca de Mornay, Rita Wilson, Dana Davis, Jason Ritter, Johnny K. Lewis, David Keith, John Corbett 2004 |
Might as well accept it: Hilary Duff was anointed as a wholesome tween-to-teen idol for a nation of young girls on the basis of her cable TV output for Disney. But her looks are pedestrian (as in "blandly-attractive-suburban-betty-wandering-around-the-mall"); her acting is high-school drama club level; and her singing is reedy and undistinguished in a pop-pap way. The dispiritingly bad "Raise Your Voice" stars Duff as small-town choirgirl Terri Fletcher, who suffers a tragic loss and must get past her sadness to succeed in a competitive summer program at an esteemed L.A. music school. (It's like the performing-arts high school in 1980's "Fame," only snootier.) Though she lacks formal training, Terri is supposed to have great pipes, yet Duff's singing is so thin and electronically processed that anyone with taste and decent hearing has to wonder what controlled substances her admirers are on. (They should've called it "DON'T Raise Your Voice.") The marginally talented Terri is determined to win a scholarship for the coming year. She makes friends and whimpers over a puppy love, and an inspirational teacher (John Corbett) provides the support she needs. It's a series of "show-must-go-on" clichés that were worn out years before "Fame" first reached movie theaters. With Oliver James as Terri's beau, Jason Ritter as her brother, Rita Wilson and David Keith as her parents, and Rebecca de Mornay as her aunt. | |||
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