I liked the movie. It was very predictable and a bit sappy. That I could excuse. It's just incredibly unbelievable because this movie showed Hilary Duffs lack of vocal ability. I enjoy her songs but I just think that she was not of the same caliber that anyone real teen in a performing art's school would be. Duff's precious as can be in a world where you really don't need to be able to sing well to sell a record. It would have been better if they had her dubbed over entirely as opposed to just the "high" notes she couldn't hit. Once you get past that, it's a cute movie. It has an excellent cast to sell it and does just about enough to holds one attention. I can't completely trash it because I did sit through the whole movie wondering about it's outcome.

This film did shock me in some respect. I expected it to be extremely cheesy (more so than what it was!) The music in it fitted so well. and the acting was actually at times believable (apart from the guy who played Hilary duff's dad in the film) He just wasn't right for any of the hospital scenes.

One thing that did disappoint me was the way after the crash the film used fade in/outs to get the point across that the brother had died, there was a funeral and that the friends didn't know how to act around her now. The film should of explored that a bit more rather than comment &fade out.

Overall i thought it was good. I've actually watched it more than once, but its mainly for the reason of the music and the type of instruments.

When I first saw Raise Your Voice, a film by Sean McNamara, I was eight years old and I fell in love with it. When I was eight, I had no criticism for anything. It might have had to do with the fact that I was practically obsessed with Hilary Duff, (the lead in the movie) but after re- watching it, I saw how crappy it really was.

Terri Fletcher is a16 year old girl who has an "amazing singing talent." She applies for a spot in a prestigious music school and is accepted. After the death of her brother she transform s into someone more insecure and begins to believe her own father's doubt of her to be true. Against her father's wishes she goes to the school and meets her strange rebel boyfriend with a passion for making 'music with meaning' and he teaches her to overcome her fear and sadness and cope with all disappointment (like seeing him cheating on her, or not living up to her own expectations) and perform. Some people call this inspiration. I say "bullshit."

My first judgement was of how unoriginal the characters were. You've got the characteristic nerd who falls in love with a woman way out of his league, the brilliant moody goth chick, the 'deep', sexy British guy, the rival, the hot ex, and of course, the inspirational hippie teacher. In some ways, you can make this work. But the film did not.

Starting with Terri Fletcher, the lead. She is an insecure, unstable and whiny sixteen year old with considerable 'talent'. (I would like to note that most of her singing that people find 'amazing' was done on voice over because it was out of her range, ironically because the movie emphasizes natural talent) The amount of time she spends running from place to place crying about her boyfriend, or her brother or any other crap that goes on in her life is really amazing. I understand that the character has just lost her brother. Sadly, this is not an excuse to whine and moan about everything, with a "woe is me" mindset for the ENTIRE movie (maybe not the end). For me, this is actually the opposite of inspiration. Perhaps their attempts at pushing religion down my throat was supposed to be that in some form, but it was kind of pretentious.

Hilary Duff certainly adds a layer of charm and teenager-ness to the character, and in some ways the self consciousness was necessary, but she did not deliver in this movie. She was whiny and the scenes that were important and emotionally straining were ruined simply because of poor acting and writing. The film emphasizes independent, mature youth who, through a hard journey are able to triumph, and react to disappointment (which there is so much of in the movie) sensibly like an adult would. This is countered by the whiny character that Duff portrays. The script was bad to begin with, but the acting by almost every character in the movie brought it to a whole 'nother level.

The ending was the "big showcase" where all the members of the music camp present their talents in a competition for a 10000 scholarship. Although Duff does not end up winning, she is ever so happy for her roommate, Denise, the girl who needs the scholarship because she's so poor. It was a terrible portrayal of a teenager's reaction. (I would have been crying.) But then her father, who showed up at the showcase, tells her she was amazing and that she can attend next year. Then the entire movie ends with a big musical number in the court yard that seems to have just assembled itself. (WTF? only in teen movies)

The messages to be received in this movie (which is intended for kids, btw) was mind- blowing. On the roof where she initially denies him a kiss then a few minutes and a compliment later, she puts out? Come on. She lies to her father, she deals with her problems not with hard work, or talking about them, but with tears. Duff is theoretically a good little Christian girl, but she engages in a number of immoral activities (i.e. lying to her father, covering up underage drinking, etc).

There were, however, some positive things about the movie:

Although Duff's acting was bad and the character was whiny, she did add to the movie because the character called for some self consciousness. She did go a little over board, which I admit is not necessarily her fault. She didn't write the damn thing, after all. There was a campy, feel good vibe from this movie that is enjoyable by some audiences, so I would recommend it for families and (like i was when i saw it) 8 year olds.

Overall, the movie was idealistic, predictable, pretentious, whiny and just bad. I enjoyed it when I was eight, but that might be the only time.