Undiscovered

Undiscovered was a typical romance drama/coming-of-age film for 20-something's with no backbone or intrigue. I watched it for Shannyn Sossamon because she's played these great characters in the past with very little going on in their lives, but in this film, she's this Brazilian model-type who seems very much in the wrong film (the character does anyways).

I don't know what US Weekly was smoking when they proclaimed on the back of the DVD "Ashlee Simpson shines as a punky inspiring singer-actress." Simpson was basically playing a girl with no real depth and a horrible nasal voice. I do however believe in what the New York Post said about Pell James, that "(she) is adorable and winsome, she's a romantic star in the making." She might be a not-so-well-known actress, but she was a well cast lead girl for this film. But the main "dude," Steven Strait, is just a big baby with too much of his heart on his shoulder, and his knack for writing lame songs in the movie just puts the character in the ground.

I really only liked a few things about the movie. 1) Carrie Fisher. She hasn't been in a whole lot of films as of late, so it was good to see her as a lead role in the model/actress' career. 2) The chick fight in the Viper Room scene. That's always killer. And 3) The small joke about the main singer guy having arachnophobia (told by his agent at Tantra Records).

The rest of the film has been done before by better actors. There was boring music (which consisted of acoustic sets and U2 ripoff songs), a ridiculous back and forth love story which makes you want to turn the DVD off ahead of time, the dude acting like a baby through most of the film because he finds out that his contract was helped out by Brier (the main girl) and it wasn't because of his lame songs, and there was even a ridiculous chant that the Tantra Records' associates go into after deleting this guy from the label. I really didn't get the line when she calls up this musician guy and adds "I know. This is borderline stalking you." Hello? He's been obsessing about you the whole movie, not the other way around.

I had to give the film a 3/10. It was shot well, but their was no driving force that kept my attention to the screen without reminding me of how much of a cable TV movie this is. I hope this was just made to give Ashlee Simpson a film career because if the writer really felt depth in this script, I would start to lose hope in the future of film.

If you are one day past your thirtieth birthday, then this movie about a group of self-absorbed twenty somethings seeking fame and fortune in Los Angeles is going to annoy you tremendously. "Undiscovered" is about forty minutes too long. It just goes on and one. I do not recommend this pretentious "trendy" nonsense at all. Well, except for one person who is actually the only highlight in this whole mess--- Ashlee Simpson!

Ashlee Simpson was a pleasant surprise in an otherwise exasperating cinema experience. She has an abundance of charisma and will be looking out for other projects she is in . And if that was her actual singing voice then she is a talented musical performer as well!

The movie takes place in Los Angeles which is one of the main reasons I decided to view this. I just love movies that take place in Los Angeles and especially movies about entertainers seeking fame and fortune in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, in "Undiscovered", the Los Angeles scenery is very "guide bookish". Worse, the director of photography moved the camera so much I couldn't even enjoy the scenery that was shot. the director of photography who couldn't keep the camera still for a moment. What a sickening movie experience! (By the way, whats with the vomit inducing camera movement that seems to be the trend lately?)

I would suggest you pass on this one. All the correct ingredients are there but some how they weren't put together correctly and it makes for a tedious movie viewing experience.

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.

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.