From Justin to Kelly (C- or 1.5/4 stars)
Who ever thought that producing 'From Justin to Kelly', a musical directed by Robert Iscove, would be a good idea? I'm basically giving this film a C-/1.5 stars rating & not an F because American Idol has spoiled me, leaving me invested in these great singers. That is all {haha}.
The setting: Spring Break, Miami -- muscle-bound men in bathing trunks, hot girls in bikinis, flashy colors everywhere. Texan singing waitress, Kelly (Kelly Clarkson), is a cautious good girl who has to be cajoled to going to Miami, Florida with her girlfriends, Kaya & Alexa (Anika Nona Rose, Katherine Bailess). Pennsylvanian frat boy, Justin (Justin Guarini) & his 2 pals head to Miami for Spring Break as outgoing party promoters. Kaya & Alexa are content to parade through a sea of guys. But Justin catches Kelly's eye. He's the only one she seeks, & vice-versa. And they go ga-ga for each other.
But things go wrong when Kelly's friend, Alexa, falls for Justin & plots to keep them apart (by use of cell phone messaging). Jealous of Kelly's ability to pick-up a guy without trying, Alexa attempts to put a stop to this by throwing off the two lovebirds. She gives Justin her 'own' phone number, and then makes it appear that Kelly isn't interested in him. I know this is just a movie, but come on ... who wouldn't be interested in the unbelievably cute, girl-next-door, Kelly Clarkson? But problem #1, Guarini & Clarkson's characters have little-to-no romantic chemistry together. Problem #2, the plot is paper thin. And problem #3, there are a handful of other atrocious subplots floating around that we have to follow.
Even with my Idol allegiance, it's hard to find some strengths here. OK, some of the musical numbers are catchy, if completely shallow; most are atrocious candy fluff. The choreography & costumes for this group of individuals is awful. Do we even have to talk about the acting? Singing is what most of these people should stick to. Believe me, Kelly and (to a much lesser extent) Justin's vocal talents don't deserve a script such as this; but they aren't overly convincing actors 'yet', either. In order to capitalize on the Idol frenzy, the producers stamped out this sugary movie with not much thought of how bad it is. Because I know & like the 2 idols, for me ... it's just about bad enough for it to be in the 'so bad it's good' category. Barely.
The setting: Spring Break, Miami -- muscle-bound men in bathing trunks, hot girls in bikinis, flashy colors everywhere. Texan singing waitress, Kelly (Kelly Clarkson), is a cautious good girl who has to be cajoled to going to Miami, Florida with her girlfriends, Kaya & Alexa (Anika Nona Rose, Katherine Bailess). Pennsylvanian frat boy, Justin (Justin Guarini) & his 2 pals head to Miami for Spring Break as outgoing party promoters. Kaya & Alexa are content to parade through a sea of guys. But Justin catches Kelly's eye. He's the only one she seeks, & vice-versa. And they go ga-ga for each other.
But things go wrong when Kelly's friend, Alexa, falls for Justin & plots to keep them apart (by use of cell phone messaging). Jealous of Kelly's ability to pick-up a guy without trying, Alexa attempts to put a stop to this by throwing off the two lovebirds. She gives Justin her 'own' phone number, and then makes it appear that Kelly isn't interested in him. I know this is just a movie, but come on ... who wouldn't be interested in the unbelievably cute, girl-next-door, Kelly Clarkson? But problem #1, Guarini & Clarkson's characters have little-to-no romantic chemistry together. Problem #2, the plot is paper thin. And problem #3, there are a handful of other atrocious subplots floating around that we have to follow.
Even with my Idol allegiance, it's hard to find some strengths here. OK, some of the musical numbers are catchy, if completely shallow; most are atrocious candy fluff. The choreography & costumes for this group of individuals is awful. Do we even have to talk about the acting? Singing is what most of these people should stick to. Believe me, Kelly and (to a much lesser extent) Justin's vocal talents don't deserve a script such as this; but they aren't overly convincing actors 'yet', either. In order to capitalize on the Idol frenzy, the producers stamped out this sugary movie with not much thought of how bad it is. Because I know & like the 2 idols, for me ... it's just about bad enough for it to be in the 'so bad it's good' category. Barely.