Cadete Kelly

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.

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...

In Cadet Kelly, Hillary Duff takes her Lizzie McGuire character and does a Private Benjamin by going to military school. Instead of the cartoon Lizzie revealing her inner most thoughts for the audience, Duff does a narration over the action of the film.

To bond with her new stepfather, Gary Cole, who is a retired career army man, Duff is put in military school where Cole came from and where he's now the commandant.

A lot of the same situations that happen in comedies like Private Benjamin and even further back with Rosalind Russell's Never Wave at a WAC occur here. Nothing new added and Hillary Duff is certainly no Rosalind Russell, but she's an appealing young lady, if she wasn't that Lizzie McGuire series would not have run for any length of time.

Another Disney regular Christy Carlson Romano from Even Stevens is also along as Duff's military school tormentor, her Eileen Brennan.

It's not Citizen Kane or The Godfather, but there are worst ways to kill two hours than watching Cadet 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.

While I didn't expect too much from this movie despite the fact that I generally like Disney channel movies, I must say I was pleasantly surprised.

Not only was the acting very believable, but the plot was original and had a lot of heart. This movie made me smile, get teary-eyed, and think. I think what makes this movie rise above the average is that it reaches many different people on various levels. It challenges you to think outside the box, to not accept the conformity of society and set your own standards while crossing over the line. It teaches you the importance of family, even 'broken' ones, and letting new people in, to have faith in people, how its important to face your fears, and perhaps most importantly, to embrace your individuality and set new standards.

Most of the negative comments I read about this movie complain about two things: 1) Hilary and Christy's characters are more or less the same as their alter egos, Lizzie and Ren, and 2) It was unbelievable as far as the military aspect because of the discrepancies and the way Kelly spoke to her ranking officer (Jennifer Stone, Christy Romano). I disagree on both counts.

First, Kelly and Jennifer's characters couldn't *be* farther from Lizzie and Ren. Lizzie is a sweet, sensitive, albeit insecure and klutzy homebody, while Kelly is a fun-loving, adventure-seeking, rule-breaking girl with something to prove. Similarly, Ren is a nice, caring, intelligent, studious person while Jennifer is a mean, stuck-up military brat with a chip permanently lodged on her shoulder.

And secondly, while I can't really confirm nor deny the military discrepancies not having been in ROTC or any branch of the military, I can certainly refute the statement that Kelly was way out of line. The worst thing she did was paint Jennifer's hair, and she was court-martialed for *that*, so I don't really see that as getting away with it. And furthermore, while I don't condone acts of revenge, she *did* have it coming--sometimes, the only way you can reach a person is to go to their level, for while it brings you down a notch at the time, when you rise back up, not only will you be a notch higher, you'll have brought someone up with you.

VERDICT: A heart-warming movie with character, not just recommended for the family or kids, but for anyone with an open mind and/or open heart.

7.0 out of 10.0

~AleXa~