Nata per vincere

Hilary Duff stars as Terri Fletcher, a 16-year-old anxious to explore her musical talent at a performing arts academy in L.A. for the summer. After a little persuasion, she makes it there, and the movie is more or less about her exploits therein.

The film starts well; the Three Days Grace concert helps set the musical tone for the movie. That was an unexpected surprise, although I suppose I'm partially biased since I like the band.

A beautiful performance by Hilary Duff. I am more and more impressed with her with every movie I see her in. She brought me to tears twice in the first twenty minutes of the movie. I was impressed by the colorful array of teens at the school, even if they were chosen primarily to make it believable that they're in L.A. I appreciated that none of the teens were written to fulfill any particular stereotype and all seemed like real people, for stereotypes are a sore spot for me, as my teen years were not all that long ago.

I loved the scenes with Denise playing the violin; again, very refreshing and stylistic. John Corbett turns in a innovative performance as a progressive music teacher, breathing a little more life into the film.

The direction really helps to further the movie along, as it is pretty anti-climatic. The 'unwanted kiss' was a bit predictable, however an element of predictability is generally assumed in movies of this persuasion. The make-out scene was completely unnecessary and should've been cut.

And it should be noted that the film is more or less like a Crossroads (2000) for a slightly younger generation, but despite that, it still maintains its own life.

I absolutely love the last song in the film—that was the perfect song for the theme of the movie. And I don't care what anyone says, Hilary Duff is a true performer, even if she isn't that great of a singer. She just always has this glow about her, and no matter how I feel, seeing her perform always makes me smile, and that's something to be commended.

VERDICT: Very enjoyable musical film despite its predictability. Recommended to anyone with kids, who's young at heart, who likes Hilary Duff, or just needs a good smile, but be forewarned—you might get a little teary-eyed before that smile reaches your lips.

6.5 out of 10.0

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.

First of all I have to say that I really love Hillary Duff, I laughed out loud when I watched A Cinderella Story and together with my sister I've seen most of the Lizzie McGuire episodes.

So, I was really curious about this new movie. But if you're making a movie about a girl with an absolutely stunning voice it's really important for the actress that she actually can sing and has an absolutely stunning voice! I've heard some songs from Hillary and they were okay, but this was really horrible that all I could think was: When will she stop? But for the rest? The story is simple and done many times before and even better. At school I learned that it's really important for your characters to change, this change is what makes a simple character a good character (why would the audience want to see a movie about someone who stays the same?) but the only character changing is Hillary and her father...

I can understand why there is no big Studio involved...

Terri Fletcher (Hilary Duff) has a lovely singing voice who wants desperately to get into Bristol Hillman Music Conservatory in LA for the summer. Her brother secretly submits a DVD to the school. When they sneak out to a concert, they get into a car crash and her brother dies. With her guilt and her father's disapproval, she no longer wants to sing and go to the summer camp. However she relents and follows her aunt and mother's advice.

The big problem is that while Hilary Duff is almost good enough as an actress. She's no where good enough as a singer. She plays the bubbly innocent girl well. The big melodrama about the brother's death sets an interesting tone. However the school plays like a bad 'Fame' copy. Other than Kat Dennings, none of the students are interesting at the school. John Corbett is hopelessly cheesy as the personable teacher. It's a Hilary Duff vehicle that she's not quite good enough to drive.

I do not understand why anyone would rate this movie anything less than a perfect 10. I thoroughly enjoyed the story, the characters were great (all movies make high-end music students look like snobby prima-donnas). I have seen every Hilary Duff movie to date and this is definitely her best work. Compared to "A Cinderalla Story", this movie has 10 times the quality and entertainment value. I thought Terri's relationship with her brother was very moving - and the scene where she first saw his DVD that was sent to the school was very well done - I could almost feel her grief. The teachers were well done. Thanks to everyone who made this film. I will be purchasing the DVD. Remember that Hilary is 16 years old when this was filmed - I look forward to the next decade as Hilary finishes her teens and goes into her 20's. My only complaint about Hilary - lose the fake hair - just let yours grow - it looks better.