Cadet Kelly

This movie was far worse than I thought it would be. I watch the Disney channel and saw many previews for CADET KELLY. Compared to their March movie, DOUBLE TEAMED, Cadet Kelly seemed effortless. Jennifer's character was not developed well enough and the movie might has well been called LIZZIE MCGUIRE GOES TO BOOT CAMP, because Hillary Duff acted almost identically to the way she acted in LIZZIE MCGUIRE.

** out of *****

Ha! I bet my one line summary above sounds a bit odd, right? Well, it's true. I know it's a family comedy and that they are supposed to be sappy and controlling, but that's not an excuse for making a dull movie like this.

Up-and-coming star Hilary Duff plays a young teenager named Kelly who is recruited to the military (guffaw) and is constantly yelled at by cadet Christy-Carlson Romano, of Disney's hit TV show "Even Stevens."

The one thing I have always hated about "Even Stevens" is Romano. She is very, very annoying. As an actress she amounts to the standards of...well...what she is: A Disney-employed actress with no talent.

Hilary Duff is a decent actress, and has gotten her big break from Disney; though I must say I'm NOT looking forward to "Agent Cody Banks."

All in all, this film is just boring, and (whaddaya know) emotionally controlling and manipulative. A must-miss.

2/5 stars -

John Ulmer

Kelly Collins (Hilary Duff) is a free spirit who loves fashion and dance. She approves her mother getting remarried to Joe "Sir" Maxwell (Gary Cole) at first. He's a military man. When he becomes the Commandant of a military school, she is forced to attend. She struggles under Cadet Captain Jennifer Stone (Christy Carlson Romano) who has a crush on Cadet Major Brad Rigby (Shawn Ashmore). Jealousy ensues.

Hilary Duff is a Disney TV star by the time of this movie. She tries to cute her way out of this. It's better than most of the channel's offerings but that's not saying much especially during that time. They obviously rented out a military academy somewhere which allows them to write around. I would like Kelly to be less talky which sometimes come off as whiney at times. Her cuteness is able to keep it endearing. At the end of the day, this movie does what it sets out to do. It is a vehicle for its Disney starlets. It's functional and Duff is well within her comfort zone.

And it wasn't. Apparently a movie doesn't have to be the least bit of good to appeal to 13 year old girls. All it needs is Hillary Duff prancing about and wearing 'cool' outfits. You may as well just rent 'Private Benjamin' instead.

I didn't expect to enjoy this movie at all, except that the sterling actor Gary Cole was in it. Cole earned his stripes in the Steppenwolf company and surely deserves to be a bigger star than he is. His role as the camp commander was a refreshing change from the goofiness of Mike Brady and the nastiness of various television guest characters he's delivered on "The Practice," "Frasier," and others. As a person in the same age group as Kelly's parents, I enjoyed seeing seeing their believable love story and Sir's benevolent dictator relationship with his stepdaughter. Though I'm not a parent, I think parents weary of obnoxious cinema teens will appreciate the pleasant youngsters in this film. I commend the film for including authentic military school drill team performances, too.