Cadete Kelly

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.

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

Hilary Duff (TV's "Lizzie Maguire") plays Kelly Collins, whose parents are divorced. When her mother meets the new love of her life, she discovers that she must attend military school. While there, she meets sardonic Jennifer Stone, (Christy Carlson Romano of "Even Stevens"), a drill team member. She doesn't fancy Kelly very much and always seems to be picking on her. Kelly crushes on Jennifer's boyfriend Bret, and a battle of wits ensues. Besides the fact that your kids will love it, the movie follows the same premise as the 1980 Goldie Hawn vehicle "Private Benjamin." I guess the performances are decent for a made-for-television movie. Let's just hope that there's no sequel...

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.