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Technical Information
Studio:
Buena Vista Home Video
Year of Theatrical Release: 2003
Disc Format: 1
single-sided, Dual Layer
Image Format: Anamorphic
Widescreen and Fulll Frame
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
and 1.33:1
Region Encoding: 1
Sound Format: Dolby
Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0 (pro logic)
Running Time: 94
minutes
Director: Jim
Fall
Stars: Hilary
Duff, Adam Lamberg, Robert Carradine, Hallie Todd
MPAA Rating: PG
Disc Supplements:
- In The Recording Studio With Hilary Duff featurette
- Off The Cutting Room Floor deleted scenes
- Hilary's Roman Adventure featurette
- "Why Not" Music Video
- Roman Volare
- Sneak Peeks trailers
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This was a fun movie, and a great finale to
the Lizzie McGuire Disney channel TV show. In The Lizzie McGuire
Movie, it’s the summer after Junior High graduation. The
kids either signed up to go to the waterpark or Rome, depending
on if they were a main character on the TV show.
Lizzie (Hilary Duff), the title character,
and Gordo (Adam Lamberg), one of Lizzie's best friends, are
going to Rome of course, along with prissy Kate (Ashley Brillault)
and space-cadet Ethan (Clayton Snyder), and their future high-school
principal, Mrs. Ungermeyer (Alex Borstein). (For those of you
who are fans of the TV show, Miranda (Lalaine) is not in the
movie but rumor has it she was at her grandmother’s in
Mexico City.)
On Lizzie’s first day in Rome, she runs
into the Italian pop star Paulo (Yani Gellman), who mistakes
her for his estranged singing partner, Isabella (Hilary Duff).
He convinces her to meet him the next day, which of course requires
pretending to be sick so Mrs. Ungermeyer will leave her at the
hotel.
Lizzie sneaks out to meet Paulo, who isn’t
just taken by Lizzie’s charm, but is wooing Lizzie to
get her to fill in for Isabella at the International Music Awards.
This is the point of everything else that happens in the film,
from playing dress-up in a designer clothing studio to practicing
on stage. Apparently Isabella doesn’t actually sing, so
all Lizzie has to do is lip-sync and dance.
Everyone, include Kate of all people, covers
for Lizzie during all these escapades, keeping Mrs. Ungermeyer
from figuring out that Lizzie isn’t really sick. Gordo
actually goes so far as to say he is sneaking out just to cover
for Lizzie, and gets sent to the airport to head home. What
friendship! Who should Gordo run into at the airport? Well,
the real Isabella of course, who exposes Paulo as a fraud.
Meanwhile, back in the states, Lizzie’s
mother (Hallie Todd) is mourning their longest separation ever
and her little brother Matt is plotting his next way to embarrass
his sister along with his best friend Melina (Carly Schroeder).
While surfing the ‘Net, Matt comes across a tabloid photo
of “Isabella” with Paulo, who just happens to be
wearing Lizzie’s necklace. In order to try to catch Lizzie
in the act, Matt convinces his parents that he misses her so
much that they all have to go to Rome.
So, back in Rome Lizzie’s family has
arrived, Lizzie is getting ready to go onstage at the coliseum,
and Gordo shows up with Isabella. The rest of the story is a
bit of a twist, but a great, fun triumph for Lizzie.
As a mother, I have some reservations to the
“run off with a pop star” aspect of this film, especially
since Lizzie has only just graduated from Junior High. All in
all, though, it was perfectly appropriate for the kids and fun
to watch with them.
:::back to
top |
Often when studios opt to provide
both widescreen and full frame versions on the same side of the
same disc, the video suffers significantly. In this case, however,
we're dealing with a film that barely runs over 90 minutes. Still,
the film does suffer a bit. Rather than one pristine transfer, we
get two pretty good transfers.
The colors are decent and adequately
showcase Lizzie's technicolor wardrobe. Overall, contrasts are pretty
good. If there are any significant problems at all, it's that the
picture sometimes shows a bit of grain at times.
There are some slight hints of compression
problems, but nothing distracting. Some edge halos appeared during
daytime scenes, but again, nothing overly problematic.
:::back to top |
Most of the sound here is pretty
much focused on the front channel, with a bit of left to right stereo
action. For the most part, there is little use of the surrounds
except during the musical numbers and for a few brief crowd scenes
and, strangely enough, during the animated Lizzie sequences. Overall
the dynamic range is pretty good, if a bit (perhaps appropriately
so) bass heavy during the teen-pop soundtrack.
:::back to top |
As might be expected for this sort
of film, there aren't a ton of extras and what is on the disc is
decidedly aimed at the film's younger audience.
Hilary’s Roman Adventure
is about the making of The Lizzie McGuire movie, full of location
info and comments by the cast and crew about what it was like to
film in Rome. There’s also a lot of info about the behind
the scenes of filming a movie. From an adult standpoint, it's a
bit fluffy and comercialized, but the kids will likely be pleased
with it.
If you have kids and watch Disney
channel, you’ve already seen the “Why Not"
video about a million times, but for my girls, it never
seems to get old.
In the Recording Studio with
Hilary is a one-on-one with Hilary talking about her new
album, with a sneak preview of several of the songs. Yes, it's another
blatant commercial, but again, the kids will eat it up.
Roamin’ Volare
is a little cameo of Lizzie and Paulo riding around Rome to the
tune of the remake of Volare by Vitamin C.
Off the Cutting Room Floor
is a collection of 3 deleted scenes from the movie, including the
extended/alternate ending.
Finishing things off are Sneak Peeks
of upcoming Disney features such as George of the Jungle 2 and two
special DVDs of Lizzie McGuire TV episodes.
:::back to top |
The nice thing about the Disney channel collection
of sit-coms is that they tend to be fairly well made. Often they
are laced with humor that is clearly aimed at the parents, which
makes the shows all the more watchable for the entire family. Of
the batch, Lizzie Macguire is perhaps the most adult friendly and
this film is a pretty faithful adaptation of the series. The Lizzie
Macguire Movie may not have longevity written all over it, but it
is an entertaining 90 minutes for both the kids and the parents.
:::back to top |
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| This movie couldn’t
be more appropriate for girls of any age or anybody who’s a
fan of Hilary Duff. |
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| -- By Jennie Austin. Copyright
© 2003. |
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