Grandeur nature

Don't you just love these lazy sunday afternoons ? Just laying around your house and do absolutely nothing but watching TV...Unfortunately, I couldn't find the remote when this thing started. I was laying in my couch and the remote was nowhere near...I didn't want anything to spoil my lazyness so I kept watching it.

It was...errrr...CUTE ! Being a 22 year old-fashioned male who wastes most of his time by seeing horror and foreign cult films, I don't think I was part of the target audience this movie tried to reach. So, I also see no reason in bashing it completely. The cast and crew tries so much to bring tears to your eyes. All typical elements are included : the poor girl who just lost her mommy, the workaholic dad who forgets his daughter's football match, the ugly duckling at the office who turns into a beautiful swan ... I'm not being cynical, I'm sure you will cry when you're a young girl (aged 8 - 14) or a lonely housewife ( age 30-55) but if you don't fall into any other category, you'll just watch at it and don't move a muscle. Either that or you have emotional problems...

The cast is filled with "I've seen him/her before somewhere" - faces but I couldn't put a name to those faces. Usually this means they're washed up actors and actresses who can only get jobs in inferior family Disney movies. Except for Tyra Banks of course...She's playing the role she was born to play. A life-size doll !! She's dumb, naïve, ignorant but oh so beautiful and perfect. Her job is to walk around and look hot and she can handle that perfectly well.

The overload of sentiment, morals, drama and unfunny comedy almost made me puke but still I didn't got up to look for the remote. ( That's a good sign by the way...it means this movie is "bearable" till the end )

The monday after, my little niece told me she saw it too and she said she never saw a better movie...so, you see, it's all relative

Casey Stuart (Lindsay Lohan) is a tough little football player. After her dad Ben (Jere Burns) missed her football game, she tries a resurrection spell to bring back her dead mother. Ben's girlfriend Drew McDonald buys her a doll Eve (Tyra Banks) which gets accidentally animated with her spell.

I expected more Lohan but this is really Tyra Banks' movie. She has many solo section at Ben's office. I also don't feel the chemistry between her and Ben. This should be a Casey and Eve buddy comedy. Together, Casey can deal with the lost of her mother and Eve can learn to be human. That's the best part of this movie. The comedy potential is endless. Their relationship could feed into Ben's feelings for Eve. Tyra Banks is not good enough as a comedic lead. She has some good sass but her anger is ill-fitting for the role. It is possible that they didn't see Lohan as the star but she's already done The Parent Trap. This should be Casey's story and not Eve's.

I've always loved Tyra Banks as a model and I loved her even more in this movie. She was adorable when she first came to life from being a doll and she showed some real emotions later when she learned what it was like to be human. The scene at the end of the football made me cry along with the characters. I know the plot has been done before, but I guess I'm a sucker for them. I also like "My Stepmother is an Alien" and the recent one on PAX where Kathy Ireland played Santa's daughter. I hope that Tyra Banks does more acting because she is very appealing.

At first glance I bet 90% of people would under estimate it. But I tell you, this is one heck of a film. It should have been put into theatres because it is SO much fun, and you can watch it with Family, friends, Anyone...and it NEVER gets boring! The comedy is everywhere. Jokes, gags, everything! It is so hilarious and you could seriously laugh through out the whole film. The acting was GREAT! It was clear and good. Finally the PLOT. Truly original! It is simple but the film is truly GREAT! Overall I give it 9/10. A bit of work here and there and the film could actually be PERFECT! RENT the film, actually, BUY the film because whenever your bored or feeling low, this film has enough comedy to make you feel better again. Small Budget, Big Power!

I would first like to start off my review for Life-Size by saying I love Lindsay Lohan. I know she has not done much in the light but this is her 2th movie role and I think she will soon become a great well known actress. I was impatiently awaiting for Life-Size to come out on video. I had seen the full trailer on this DVD I have many times as well as several TV spots. The movie to me looked like it was going to be great but with trailers lately you never really know what to think. So on Saturday evening it aired on TV.

The film stars Lindsay Lohan as Casey, a girl unwittingly giving new meaning to the phrase "living doll" in this comic fantasy. After the death of her mother, 14-year-old Casey (Lindsay Lohan) is despondent. As she and her father Ben (Jere Burns) begin to drift apart, Casey finds a book of magic spells and tries to use one to bring her mother back to life. But the plan backfires, and instead she finds that she's animated Eve (Tyra Banks), a fashion-plate dress-up doll. Eve is excited to be both alive and nearly six feet tall, but she has a lot to learn about living in the real world -- and Casey isn't so sure she has the desire or the patience to teach her.Life-Size is a magical movie that all girls love!Starring the beautiful model Tyra Banks and Parent Trap's Lindsay Lohan. It is about a 14 year old girl Casey (Lohan)who is sad and lonely after the death of her mom at this point Casey would do anything to spend time with her mom and decides to steal a Spell Book in hopes it will bring her mother back instead it brings her Eve (Banks)Barbie doll to life! This happy accident changes Casey's life upside down.This is where the film really starts to get fun and Life-Size ensues…

The acting in this film is very good. Lindsay Lohan played Casey perfectly. She nails the role on the head. Like I mentioned earlier I love Lindsay Lohan. She is a terrific singer and she can act. She is literally perfect in every role she has done so far. Even in her last film Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen which was one of my biggest disappointments of 2004. Her character Lola in that film was the only good thing about the film. The rest of Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen was horrible, it had a rotten script, stupid jokes and an extreme lack of character development. That's why it was nice to see Lindsay Lohan in action in this good movie. As for her co-star Jere Burns who played Ben in the film was great. I liked his whole nice guy personality. I think we will be seeing him in a few more movies down the line. The supporting cast of Tyra Banks as the bimbo doll come to life in the film was also quite amusing and good in the film.

The film's director Life-Size did a great job on this film. This was his kid's film but he has been a director of many TV shows and horror/thriller movies both of past and present. He did a great job with many of the different camera angles and chasing sequences. I feel the director really caught the emotion of all the characters in the film and you really cared about the characters especially Casey and Ben.

The script as well is a pleasant. This film is a bit predictable but then again only 3 to 7 made-for-TV movies a year are original so you can't hate the film for that. Life-Size is a kid's romantic comedy, what do people want from it? There are only so many ideas you can use with a kid's romantic comedy. I personally think the movie is unique in several levels though. I have never seen a kid's romantic comedy about a girl who takes a steals a book, without a mother and plans to revive her and ends up turning the doll she got from an employee at her dad's office for a birthday present. That is quite original. I also thought there were several other scenes in the film which were unique to only this film. I also thought the dialog in the film was great and the ending was good without getting to sappy. The script overall was very good just like everything else about the film.

So in conclusion, I loved Life-Size. Sure it is not one of the critically acclaimed year's best made-for-TV films but it's a fun and enjoyable film which I could probably watch over and over again several times. It was a pleasure to watch the film for its 2 hour running time. The film like I said above is a bit predictable but so what when you have some originality, strong performances, and a beautiful and talented leading lady like Lindsay Lohan it's very hard to go wrong. This movie is my third favorite Lindsay Lohan film; The Parent Trap is still my favorite because I really feel for the characters and I can at times I can really relate to the film. And Freaky Friday was a fun and hilarious remake of a beloved classic. But Life-Size comes in right behind it in 3nd place. I want to rate this movie an 7/10 because it was very likable, had good performances, and was an all in all feel good film. See it if you like romantic comedies or well made made-for-TV teen/kid flicks. I know I will be seeing it again and possibly purchasing it. Too bad Mark Rosman's talents will be wasted directing the (probably) horrible films, A Cinderella Story and The Perfect Man, both starring the horrid actress Hilary Duff.