Beauty & the Briefcase

This TV movie is a cross between Sex and the City, Legally Blonde and Bridget Jones Diary.

Hilary Duff gets hired by Cosmopolitan magazine to write an article about finding true love by finding the right man in the corporate workplace. Duff goes undercover at a finance company. However she is unqualified to be a PA, she has lied in her CV, acts like a 16 year old high school student and it's a wonder that she has not been fired on her first day.

Like Legally Blonde her charm sees her through but the film has a shallow and silly premise. There is a side plot where she is attracted to a British executive and her boss is uptight but has plans to save the company money by going green.

Its an unashamed and cynical chick flick aimed at younger females and even they would think its too far fetched.

I cannot believe I've even wasted 45 minutes to watch what I hate. I don't mind predictable movies, but this is just ridiculously dumb.

Liam's "accent" is terrible..terrible...terrible...so hard to watch this movie because that character sucks.

Further, the Liam character is not cute and he looks the same in every movie he has been in!

Jamie Pressly was the highlight of the movie and Hilary Duff is quite annoying.

Another annoying thing was the way they portrayed the men in the movie as idiots falling all over her..yuck.

ABC Family should be ashamed of themselves for such a bad movie!

Wow...bad as bad can get on a ROMCOM.

I don't know how to write this without actually using a grand host of swear words to try to conjure up images of how stupid and retarded and insane this entire premise and development and production actually was.

Not a fan of many romantic comedies, this certainly has to be at the bottom of the pile.

Even for MADE FOR TELEVISION, this was on a low scale presence of pure absurdity and stupidity combined.

Oh...what some people will sit through on a rainy day, so as not to get wet leaving the house. That was me...too lazy to step outside my door and have rain fall on my head...

Well I had to suffer somehow...and to watch this only made me want to get soaked instead.

This was stupid from 2 minutes in, till the end...and hopefully I will be a touch smarter the next time something like this comes my way.

'' Beauty And The Briefcase '' is a romantic comedy of the 2000's and has those vibes of an easy to watch movie. Sure, the plot isn't groundbreaking or even logical at times, but, for what it promises, it serves. It is light, it has its funny moments, it has some romance, some girlfriend action, an office setting, a magazine setting (of course it wouldn't have been a romantic comedy of the 2000's if it didn't), and some fluff.

The performances were good enough as well, as to support the story and deliver enjoyable characters.

The pace was okay too, though the ending was rushed and could have been handled better.

Where do I begin? This movie won a People's Choice nomination in 2010 for BEST FAMILY MOVIE!?! Say what? I am the last person in the world to want movies that reflect some artificial moral code - but this is misleading to parents who do feel that way. Lane, our heroine, lies, cheats, betrays her friend, has sex with someone she hardly knows repeatedly - and is really turned on by make-up sex. Personally, I think that's cool - but just a very odd heroine for a family movie.

That said, to me the movie itself played a lot like Sex and the City for the 20-something set. There is good girlfriend chemistry between the photographer, model, and Lane as they play cards with male torsos, etc., and joke about their guilty pleasures. As a movie, I found this sporadically amusing with a few of the photographer bits and one office bit very funny. I thought the friends did an excellent job doing their things. The film was well-paced, and there was some funny dialog. The acting in most of the supporting roles is fine - especially the affable Tom who must've had to work hard to say his lines with a straight face and still pull them all. Jaime Presley who plays Cosmo Editor Kate does likewise.

Obviously, as others have pointed out, the plot contrivances themselves regarding how she gets the Cosmo Story Assignment and how she gets the investment banking job are ridiculous - but what else is new in most comedies. You suspend your disbelief to accept the premise. That's OK with me.

So, Executive Producer Hilary Duff did a better-than-average job in putting together a Sex and the City for the 20-something set but not a family movie. Lead actress Duff is an abomination. Even given her character's moral wavering and hypocrisy, her dialog was still written well enough, she could've been a 20-something Carrie Bradshaw (narration, shoes, and all). Carrie has certainly had such lapses and we cheer when she looks in the mirror, learns, and leaps forward.

Not here, unfortunately. Duff was engaging child actress but she if this is representative work, she is gosh-awful as an adult. Her comic timing is off; her dialog reads project more than the hammiest emoters I have ever seen on stage; and her expressions do not connect with the interaction of her fellow actors.

Still, I was in a good mood and the plastic-wrap scene itself was funny enough so I gave it a 5. Ms. Duff should stick to producing and find another leading lady. Perhaps she can do a cameo.