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Lizzie McGuire (Hilary Duff) graduates from junior high and persuades her parents to let her
go on the class trip to Rome. She tosses a coin at the Trevi fountain, wishes for romance, and gets it as soon as the coin hits bottom—in the person of the dark-haired,
dark-eyed Italian pop idol Paolo (Yani Gellman).
Paolo spots her out of the crowd for being the perfect though blonde look-alike of his estranged stage partner, the brunette Isabella (Hilary Duff) who has dumped him and flown to an island to cool off. Melting from Paolo's attention and covered up by her pal Gordo (Adam Lamberg) and her roommate Kate (Ashlie Brillault), Lizzie feigns illness to escape the class tours and goes off for days with Paolo, viewing the Eternal City from the back seat of a red scooter. Soon, Paolo asks Lizzie to stand in for Isabella on an important glittery event so as not to be sued for breach of contract. He convinces her to actually sing and dance Isabella's part, has her dressed and made up as a pop star, packages her as his blonde-dyed partner, but on the big night Isabella pops up onstage, and showtime becomes showdown!
In terms of technical savvy, what can you expect from a Disney movie? The Lizzie
McGuire Movie
is a smooth production, as far as its genre goes. Lighting, sound, script, dialogue, cinematography, acting, direction, casting, costumes, etc. etc. etc.–everything is in place. One can't help suspecting, though, that the movie seems to position Hilary Duff as the next Britney Spears since the latter's sales pitch as not-a-girl-but-not-yet-a-woman is fast wearing out as Spears… well, advances in age. Whatever, Duff's golden mane and wide-eyed, dazzling, lip-glossed smile are certainly promising as pop star assets.
Does the Disney trademark guarantee the innocence of a movie? Feigning illness and
sneaking out on a bulldog of a chaperone Miss Ungermeyer (Alex Borstein) to run around Rome with a total stranger won't win for any 15-year old girl anywhere the Model Teen of
the Year Award. Neither should her friends Gordo and Kate who cover up for her lies be elected as Mr. and Miss Loyalty at a friendship contest.
Sure there are no "objectionable elements" in the movie (read alcohol and drug abuse, prurient sex, violence, etc.) but hey, not all that's pink and light and fluffy is desirable. The very young may watch this movie and think they can get away with anything in the name of adventure. We all know the world doesn't work like that. CINEMA doesn't mean to be a killjoy, but if you must let your kids see the Lizzie movie, you have to make it clear to them that lies are lies (" Look what happened to Paolo!") and that Lizzie is simply lucky. Getting a coin to make your fantasy a reality is something that happens only in the movies.
(Date reviewed: July 18, 2003)
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