Ok, maybe it's time for all of us naysayers to reassess "What a Girl Wants." After all, that film might not have been any great shakes, but in comparison to "The Lizzie McGuire Movie," it looks like Oscar material.
The latter film is a misfire of gigantic proportions. Somehow the studio and filmmakers have taken a sure-fire premise — a feature film based on the extremely popular Disney Channel TV series — and really flubbed it. But looking back at it, it's easy to see why. The television program can only sustain itself for 30 minutes. When you try to stretch that to 90 minutes, you have to rely on padding. A lot of padding. And for such a short movie — in actual time, as compared to relative time — this one moves like molasses.
The story has the klutzy title character (Hilary Duff) finally graduating from junior high school — but then having to live down the humiliation of ruining the graduation ceremonies. So she's glad to be heading to Italy for a couple of weeks — even if it means she's under the thumb of the tyrannical Miss Ungermeyer (Alex Borstein).
It helps that her best pal, Gordo (Adam Lamburg, probably the film's sole saving grace), keeps reassuring her that there are adventures in store for both of them. And wouldn't you know it, once they arrive, Lizzie is spotted by Paolo (Yani Gellman), a pop star who's lost his singing partner.
Soon she finds herself sneaking out with the charismatic singer, who takes her on a whirlwind tour of Rome. He also seems serious when he says he wants her to become his new partner. And surprisingly, Lizzie suddenly finds herself at odds with Gordo, who's been protecting her — in more ways than one.
As predictable and lightweight as the material is, the real culprit is director Jim Fall. He seems to have no control over the film, which is little more than a series of mistimed gags and overused and overly cutesy animated "asides."
Even Duff doesn't really seem all that thrilled by the material she's being given. She seems much less assured here than she has been previously on the big screen (most recently in "Agent Cody Banks").
Perhaps that explains why the adult cast feels the need to overcompensate, with Borstein and Hallie Todd (who plays Lizzie's worrywart mom) hamming it up with extremely mixed results.
"The Lizzie McGuire Movie" is rated PG for slapstick violence (mostly pratfalls) and scattered use of mild profanities (mostly religiously based). Running time: 90 minutes.
E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com