SnoopyStyle
Holly Lovell (Lindsey Haun) lives in a small Texas town with her mother Wanda (Virginia Madsen). Her father is long absent. She is desperate to go to the Haverty music school in Philadelphia. Her mother secretly films her singing for the school application. Her boyfriend Tyler (Aaron Ashmore) proposes but she holds off. She is surprised by the school's midterm acceptance. Unbeknownst to her, the family home has been foreclosed. Ditz is her new rich troubled roommate friend. Her competition Angela pines for Grant who takes a liking to Holly. She struggles with the unfamiliar classical music. With the car breaking down, Wanda takes a nearby waitress job working for Dee (Jayne Eastwood). She keeps all of it a secret while staying with her embarrassed daughter Holly.This is loosely based on a book written by Britney Spears and her mother which is loosely based on her life. Any resemblance to reality is strictly an accident. They do get producer credit and a lot of references in the movie. The story is basically not terrible. Haun and Madsen are perfectly good actresses. Holly is a little self-obsessed and petty. Her enemies are cartoonish but that's alright. She has a few too many supporters which detracts from her underdog status. I also would get rid of her hometown boyfriend whom she leaves behind way too easily. There are a few too many miscalculations from the standard formula. This should be easily likable but it doesn't completely work.
Jim (jim-1225)
This review owes its existence entirely to a review. We take a weekly TV magazine to see what is coming up, and duly decide what we will watch. Obligingly, there are brief reviews of most of the films scheduled to be shown on the five major terrestrial channels. In addition to the prose, each film is allocated a 1-5 star rating. 5 means Don't Miss (superior to 4 for Excellent!), down to 1 standing for Poor. We have learned from vast experience that, with few exceptions, stars are awarded for gross taste, foul language, offensive content, promiscuity, horror, blood & guts, and especially killing off the hero/heroine just when everyone was about to live happily ever after. (If that isn't done, the movie is denigrated as being 'predictable' - the worst insult imaginable!)Brave New Girl was given only 1 star, thereby suggesting it was a candidate worthy of our time and attention. This was confirmed by the reviewer's description of the movie as being a "truly awful tale", and, "Stupid, just stupid". We watched it, and my wife and I were glad we did so. The TV magazine reviewer further stated that the movie was "not a reworking of War and Peace", with which we have to agree. Reading through the IMDb reviews for this title a day or two later, the urge to pick up my pen (so to speak) to add my halfpennyworth (pronounced harf'pen'uth (emphasis on the first syllable) for the uninitiated) became overwhelming.Why did we take to this movie? Well, it's just a matter of taste. We like attractive characters, believable relationships between them, interesting situations, courtesy and respect, good triumphing over evil, and so on. We liked the integrity and personalities of Holly (Lindsey Haun), her Mum (Virginia Madsen), Ditz (Barbara Mamabolo), Grant (Nick Roth), Zoe (Joanne Boland) and the two male professors involved in the story. So what if the storyline includes a 'wicked witch of the west' in the form of Angela (Barbara Mamabolo), provided that she plays the part with some conviction. We appreciated the friendship depicted between the two room-mates, with one having a financially challenged upbringing by a loving single Mum, and the other having every material advantage but receiving little parental time and affection. Is it any wonder that Ditz felt the way she did about Holly's Mum? Is it surprising that Grant should take an immediate interest in Holly, considering the manner of their initial meeting, Holly's dazzling smiles and her lively self-possession? I think these issues and the events are believable enough, but it is necessary to pretend that the scholarship and other circumstances are realistic in order for the tale to have a setting.My wife and I are greatly blessed by not having any significant musical education. This enables us to enjoy the sounds produced by instruments and voices without having our critical faculties intruding unduly on our listening, and thus spoiling the experience. We enjoyed both the classical pieces and the pop, which came over well on the TV, and we weren't struck by any lack of talent. Also, it mattered not that Holly's classical vocals were dubbed by someone else.We enjoyed the movie enough to look for a DVD. The average delivered price we have paid per disk for the movies in our collection currently stands at £4.9484 (rounded to four decimal places). Brave New Girl was available from a trusted supplier on the Amazon Marketplace for £1.3516 (rounded to four decimal places) above this figure. Such a purchase would increase the average. Why I should resent this is a mystery to me, but it is a testimony to our enjoyment of this film that we placed an order anyway. I have awarded this film 7 IMDb stars out of ten, having docked one for overenthusiastic reception of the performances by the audiences, one for Britney advertising and one for something else I can't remember right now. (In case it hasn't tumbled, this review is an anthem in celebration of the use of brackets!)
koala1114
I actually liked this movie until the end. Sure, it was cheesy and pretty unlikely but still it kept my attention on a rainy afternoon. Until the end, that is. For her final performance at the prestigious classical conservatory where she has struggled to catch-up to the other classically trained students, what does the main character do? Wow them with her grasp and execution of this time honored musical tradition? No. She tortures and butchers the great sensuous Habanera from Carmen and turns it into an utterly forgettable Brittany Spears-wannabe pop song. My ears bled! And, in the supreme moment of horror, her teachers gave her a standing ovation! Any teacher not in a Spears-induced fantasy would have failed her on the spot. Save your time, save your ears - skip this movie!
harpreet_cute1409
I found this movie kinda boring and predictable..kinda like a happy movie..girl goes into music school but doesn't keep up with the competition but suddenly does really good and beats snobby girl,gets the hot guy and in the end lives happily ever after.Hmm..thats sound a lot like Hilary Duff's Raise Your Voice in a badder version.But still the guy was hot and the songs were really cool especially the duet in the bar..I also thought the movie was about a girl whose trying to fit in..i didn't really like the part where just because she remixed the song doesn't mean its the best..the classical songs also were also pretty good.thats what i mean when i say that the movie was too predictable..
