Raise Your Voice (2004)

A Masterpiece!

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Hilary Duff is so great in this film and she really gives her all in this performance. I love the heart in this movie and the hope in this movie and that it shows through time, healing, and music that things will get better. The talent and music in this movie is so great as well and it is such an entertaining and fun and energetic movie. I will always love this movie and it will always be a great movie to me.

I've given this move the highest rating possible. As the tag line says, one of the top 10 chick flicks of all time.I highly recommend this film! If you want a tear-jerker, romance, singing-school kind of film this nails it on the head exactly. Hilary Duff really strives in her acting as Terri Fletcher in this movie about a talented girl who struggles to comes to terms with the death of her brother who wanted nothing more than to see his little sister make it in the world as a singer. She's packed away to school which thrives on upcoming music stars and there she finds her place in the world, singing next to Oliver James This film will make you weep, smile and even sing along once you've watched the film enough LOL!

When I first saw Raise Your Voice, a film by Sean McNamara, I was eight years old and I fell in love with it. When I was eight, I had no criticism for anything. It might have had to do with the fact that I was practically obsessed with Hilary Duff, (the lead in the movie) but after re- watching it, I saw how crappy it really was. Terri Fletcher is a16 year old girl who has an "amazing singing talent." She applies for a spot in a prestigious music school and is accepted. After the death of her brother she transform s into someone more insecure and begins to believe her own father's doubt of her to be true. Against her father's wishes she goes to the school and meets her strange rebel boyfriend with a passion for making 'music with meaning' and he teaches her to overcome her fear and sadness and cope with all disappointment (like seeing him cheating on her, or not living up to her own expectations) and perform. Some people call this inspiration. I say "bullshit."My first judgement was of how unoriginal the characters were. You've got the characteristic nerd who falls in love with a woman way out of his league, the brilliant moody goth chick, the 'deep', sexy British guy, the rival, the hot ex, and of course, the inspirational hippie teacher. In some ways, you can make this work. But the film did not. Starting with Terri Fletcher, the lead. She is an insecure, unstable and whiny sixteen year old with considerable 'talent'. (I would like to note that most of her singing that people find 'amazing' was done on voice over because it was out of her range, ironically because the movie emphasizes natural talent) The amount of time she spends running from place to place crying about her boyfriend, or her brother or any other crap that goes on in her life is really amazing. I understand that the character has just lost her brother. Sadly, this is not an excuse to whine and moan about everything, with a "woe is me" mindset for the ENTIRE movie (maybe not the end). For me, this is actually the opposite of inspiration. Perhaps their attempts at pushing religion down my throat was supposed to be that in some form, but it was kind of pretentious. Hilary Duff certainly adds a layer of charm and teenager-ness to the character, and in some ways the self consciousness was necessary, but she did not deliver in this movie. She was whiny and the scenes that were important and emotionally straining were ruined simply because of poor acting and writing. The film emphasizes independent, mature youth who, through a hard journey are able to triumph, and react to disappointment (which there is so much of in the movie) sensibly like an adult would. This is countered by the whiny character that Duff portrays. The script was bad to begin with, but the acting by almost every character in the movie brought it to a whole 'nother level. The ending was the "big showcase" where all the members of the music camp present their talents in a competition for a 10000 scholarship. Although Duff does not end up winning, she is ever so happy for her roommate, Denise, the girl who needs the scholarship because she's so poor. It was a terrible portrayal of a teenager's reaction. (I would have been crying.) But then her father, who showed up at the showcase, tells her she was amazing and that she can attend next year. Then the entire movie ends with a big musical number in the court yard that seems to have just assembled itself. (WTF? only in teen movies)The messages to be received in this movie (which is intended for kids, btw) was mind- blowing. On the roof where she initially denies him a kiss then a few minutes and a compliment later, she puts out? Come on. She lies to her father, she deals with her problems not with hard work, or talking about them, but with tears. Duff is theoretically a good little Christian girl, but she engages in a number of immoral activities (i.e. lying to her father, covering up underage drinking, etc).There were, however, some positive things about the movie:Although Duff's acting was bad and the character was whiny, she did add to the movie because the character called for some self consciousness. She did go a little over board, which I admit is not necessarily her fault. She didn't write the damn thing, after all. There was a campy, feel good vibe from this movie that is enjoyable by some audiences, so I would recommend it for families and (like i was when i saw it) 8 year olds. Overall, the movie was idealistic, predictable, pretentious, whiny and just bad. I enjoyed it when I was eight, but that might be the only time.

Now your probably thinking, "He gave it 10 stars?? Only some horny 17 year old guy would give it that" and I'm not here to disagree. Seen it last night on TV and thought it was awesome... Storey was great, the feeling was good, and most of all the actors were top notch. Some say if you took Hillie and her music out of the movie, I wouldn't want a bar of this film... and that's probably true too. BUT! She was in it, so it made the movie a thrill to watch. You may call it bias, but its the fact. hell, put Hillie in the worst movie ever and ill give it 10 stars. 10/10