Lovestruck: The Musical (2013)

Such a frustrating disappointment

There are women in the film, but none has anything you could call a personality.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

In true Disney style this movie could not be further from reality but that does not mean that it's not entertaining. It's fun, cutesy and very fairytale like. It's filmed in beautiful locations and the sets are extravagant and luxe. Perfect if your looking for a nice escape. Probably the biggest shortcoming is that there isn't much substance to the film. While this isn't a major problem it makes the story feel less genuine.Word to the wise - if you don't like musicals then don't watch this movie. Most scenes are filled with sugary sweet fun song and dance numbers. Sadly the singing was not very strong but the song choices were good. I was also impressed with Chelsea Kane's acting skills, she seems perfectly suited to this type of role and is vivacious and captivating. Overall I really enjoyed this movie and it left me feeling elated and content.

I liked this musical. Maybe it's because I'm old, but I thought Jane Seymour was very attractive & fun to watch. She was the main reason I tuned this in. Everybody in the cast did a good job, but I do agree with the other reviewers that the lead male, the bridegroom, was a major disappointment- he just had no real appeal or depth.The musical numbers rocked, especially Usher's Dj. The story did leave a lot of unexplored territory, which I attributed to Disney family format. The main plot seemed to be a girl getting married, her independence & resolving family issues. Lovestruck is a breezy, light-hearted romp with a good soundtrack. Feel-good flick, never bogs down.

Lovestruck: The Musical is the latest in the recent string of made-for- cable musicals and the first of it's kind for ABC Family. Itemploys the "Glee" idea here and covers popular songs as well as original ones, and features such songs as "Just Dance" by Lady Gaga, "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" by Whitney Houston "Like A Virgin" by Madonna, "Everlasting Love" by Robert Knight, and "DJ Got Us Falling In Love" by Usher. The storyline is rather silly. A selfish Broadway choreographer and producer travels to Italy to sabotage her daughter's wedding, and ends up drinking a potion that turns her young. Through a series of events, her ex-husband also turns young by drinking the potion and they have to right the wrongs that she did while trying to sabotage everything. The cast is what pulls this one off. Jane Seymour plays the older Harper and Chelsea Kane plays the younger. Kane gets most of the screen time and is engaging and fun to watch. Her singing is mediocre, but her dancing is competent. Seymour may not have been the best casting choice (had I been doing the casting I'd have gone with Bebe Neuwirth). Her singing is dubbed and her dancing is the weakest in the film. Sara Paxton plays the daughter getting married and has an awful solo song that is heavy with auto-tuned production. Paxton, who has always been a favorite of mine, is a competent singer and does not need the auto-tune. Adrienne Bailon is also here as Paxton's horny best friend and maid of honor. Bailon adds her expert vocals to a few songs and also serves a purpose to the plot, unlike Mary J. Blige in "Rock of Ages" who served no purpose in that film. Drew Seeley and Tom Wopat play the ex husband in his younger and older forms. Wopat lays on the comedy thick, and Seeley has never been more charming. He gets to show off his great dancing and singing in the highlight number of the film "DJ Got Us Falling In Love", a duet with Kane. It's also nice to see Wopat's singing skills not wasted. The cast is rounded out by Alexander DiPersia, who is unmemorable, if flat as Paxton's reformed philanderer husband-to-be.As a whole, Lovestruck is silly, and at times overly cutesy, but has several moments of amusing comedy and fun music. It seemed to get lost in it's musical numbers at times. "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" seems to go on forever, as did "Like A Virgin". It also seemed to be emulating "Mamma Mia" too much, with it's foreign locale and daughter getting married plot. Some of the choreography was hokey in the ending sequence (i.e. the cast bending into each other making a heart with their arms from the bride and groom to walk under). Despite a lot of it's flaws, I still found it to be an engaging hour and a half.

Okay, I kind of loved this movie. The song sequences were great, and I loved all the dancing, mostly because I can't dance to save my life and it fascinates me to watch other people do it. I like how it gets right up into the meat of the plot really quickly - HOWEVER, I didn't like how long it took for her husband to come on the scene and how short a time Drew Seeley was there. He was the main reason I watched it and I was really disappointed by that. I think it would have been interesting had they explored the concept of her becoming young forever more thoroughly; to me it seemed like a thrown-in point that resolved itself too quickly, and left it up for a sequel. (Maybe they find another bottle?) And maybe it could be about where the bottle came from in the first place, too.