Undiscovered

Cheesy plot? Check. Mediocre acting? Check. Stilted lines? Check. Clichéd Hollywood characters? Check. Undiscovered had everything you would expect to find in a mostly bad teen movie. But it did have a few redeeming qualities as well. Like great music, a really funny supporting character, not to mention a lead actor who can really work a pair of leather pants. I went to see a sneak preview of Undiscovered expecting to make fun of it, but I walked out of the theater mostly wanting to check out the soundtrack. The main male character, played by Steven Strait, is a want-to-be rock star who has a ten second encounter with a pretty girl on a New York subway. Fast forward two years, the two meet again in Hollywood. Then, in what seemed to be a highly contrived plot point, the girl, now a successful model, decides to fast-track the guy's career, all while pretending she doesn't like him. Fast forward a few months, the guy's career is taking off, but the pair are still in limbo. I won't say anymore about the plot. Suffice it to say that while the script and story seemed a little forced, and I was pretty sure the director/photographer wanted to make me throw up with a lot of shaking hand-held close-ups, Undiscovered had a pretty good cast of up and comers and a great soundtrack. I was really surprised by Ashlee Simpson, and actually walked out of the theater with more respect for her than when I walked in. Who knew the girl could actually sing.

This movie is called UNDISCOVERED, and it should have stayed that way. We find totally uninspiring characters, a weak plot and some self-conscious acting. It fails to ignite, never making it's mind up about what it really wants to be and in the end leaves the viewer with total indifference. There are obvious attempts a edgy camera-work and innovative cinematography but in the end that also fails miserably. Due to the aimless script the viewer never develops any sympathy or empathy for any character. This movie lasts roughly 90 minutes, which is about 88 minutes too long. The best part of the whole thing is one or two Ashley Simpson songs, and that's not even overly impressive.

So, I'm looking through Hulu for something to watch and I come across Undiscovered, the long awaited reuniting of Kip Pardue and Shannyn Sossamon after The Rules of Attraction. A delectable Pell James, Ashlee Simpson, Carrie Fisher, Fisher Stevens, and Peter Weller. A 2005 movie. Very artful cinematography. Why am I first hearing about this movie on Hulu? It has so much going for it.

Well, it was distributed by Lions Gate... a warning flag goes up. I think of Lions Gate and I think of a studio that built itself with signing the rights to bottom of the barrel movies and successfully distributing them.

Ah, despite the compelling cinematography, which compels me to keep watching, and the great presence of Miss James, and the fairly decent directing job, the story just plain blows. It comes close to being compelling but in each instance, falls to cliché, and even does a poor job at that. Miss Simpson gives a nice performance. Miss Sossamon's talent is sorely wasted in this movie. It makes sense why it went straight to Hulu, but with so much going for it, it doesn't make sense why it turned out to be such a poor movie. I am sure that a lot of people put their hearts into this movie. There was a lot of talent here. Just sometimes, it's not enough... you need that stroke of lightning.

I will say this though... as we get older and we live our lives in the suburbs, we have to remember that there are people, like the characters in this movie, who are really living life, and experiencing the world and new things every day. We need to keep that sense of adventure, otherwise, we are the walking dead of suburbia.

The film tries to camouflage its mediocrity behind an edgy MTV style aesthetic, which only works if you're in sixth grade. the film doesn't even manage to capture a remotely compelling portrait of struggling actors in LA before accelerating into a ridiculous turn of "let's make our friend famous".

Steve Strait isn't bad, could be promising in future projects, and Pell James is decently likable but bless her heart she's not yet strong enough to carry a film. As far as Ashlee Simpson goes, she's really not the worst actress on the planet or even in the movie, but that's the most positive thing about her i could think of to say. When she's not visibly trying to be arty and deep her acting talents stand above Jessica Alba & Paris Hilton, yet still decidedly below a cadaver on CSI. Watching her jam is especially hilarious. I don't think her voice sounds bad, but she's transparently trying so hard to be rock that I was surprised the extras didn't start booing her pretentious efforts. It's one of those movies that fails because you're not watching characters, you're watching unconvincing people who seem to think they're acting. Honorable mentions: Shannyn Sossamon is amusing as a dim supermodel, and Carrie Fisher is great because she looks like she can't wait to get away from all these boring prats and home to a very dry martini. And a warning to all: the lack of excitement makes the movie feel an hour longer than it is.

So if you're like me and you love to make fun of bad movies aimed at the WB crowd, or if you're one of THOSE who actually thinks "one tree hill" is a good show, then Undiscovered is a decent rental. if not, don't waste the 90 minutes of your life.

Although not the most sophisticated movie. Storyline is cute and Steven Strait, Pell James and Ashlee Simpson were pretty good. Some line didn't make sense and the sceen where he's acting like a rock star on stage not even noticing the groupie and Josie fighting over him was a little ridiculous and tacky. It may not be up to par with other really good romantic movies such as Notting Hill, Sleepless in Seattle, Pride and Prejudice, The Princess Bride, Pretty woman, When harry met sally.(I can add a lot more but I be sitting here for a good solid hour or so)Aside from all those movies it still is cute feel good (if you're a sap like me) movie. PS. The soundtrack's awesome too.