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Confessions of a Teenage Drama
Queen
by
debbie lynn elias
| Who doesn’t like Lindsay
Lohan. Her cuteness, charm and acting ability captivated one’s
attention with "The Parent Trap." Her turn as Casey in the
Disney tv-movie "Life-Size" was pre-teen endearment at its
finest. Her comedic talents exploded with "Freaky Friday." She
has become the leading, leading lady (but for Julie Andrews who is in a
league all her own) in the Disney stables. So, what the heck happened
with "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen"???
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Photo © Copyright Touchstone Pictures
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Mary Elizabeth Cep aka the Broadway bound
Lola, is the product of divorce. Always the center of attention, with
her parents’ divorce that need intensifies and then compounds even
further, when Lola’s mom moves the family from Manhattan to the
suburbs of Jersey. (Horrors! Even worse, Jersey looks a strange bit like
Canada.) No longer the pride of Manhattan and the Queen of the World,
Lola is thrust into a new school, trying to make a new life and new
friends, and has to do so as an outsider. With her own flambouyantly
out-there New York style, Lola can’t imagine how her new school could
have possibly survived without her presence and tackles her first day of
school with reckless abandon and an egomaniacal attitude. Bad move Lola.
Seems there’s already an alpha female, center of attention in Dellwood
in the form of the beautiful, rich and snooty Carla Santini. And if you
know girls, there is no way they step aside gracefully for the
competition. They will also fight to the fi! nish to hold on what’s
theirs, be it friends, clothes, boys or status.
Filling her own self-absorbed need, Lola
hooks with the class Plain Jane, Ella, who reveres Lola. Ella is in awe
of Lola. Ella will listen for hours on end to Lola’s self-important
tall tales - and believe them. Ella is in awe of Lola. (Yep, already
said it, but can’t say it enough - essential to Lola’s ego, dontcha
know.) They even like the same band which, sadly, it appears it breaking
up giving rise to some not so funny antics by Lola who is trying to
maintain alpha status with at least Ella. In the meantime, the war is on
between Lola and her nemesis Carla as Carla spreads gossip that Lola is,
among others, a liar, (due in large part to the incidents surrounding
the concert incident). Sabotage and rivalry ensue as Lola still pushes
to snatch that center of attention spot away from Carla (so that others
beside Ella with worship and adore her), ultimately vying for lead in
the school play with a showdown between the two.
Based on the book by Dyan Sheldon, the
screen adaptation by Gail Parent is a poor advertisement for what is an
enjoyable story in print. Parent has the story and the characters
"all over the place" with no real defining story line, written
with little snippets of adventures that appear to have been just stuck
together in the final cut of the film. Even more disturbing is the
incongruity and unbelievability of Lola. Even drama queens have their
standards and needs ands those needs don’t allow for hanging with
those below your "A" group status (which Lola believes she
is). Compounding this is the lack of any modicum of believability in the
majority of "tall tales" told by Lola - especially one
involving the death of her father. Now what daughter would manufacture
the death of a father she loves so dearly!
The biggest downside of the poor script
is the waste of some talented actresses and especially Lohan. Apparently
second choice for the role Lola (which allegedly was turned down by
former Disney pet, Hilary Duff and after seeing the film one has to
wonder if Duff was lucky enough to read the script first and Lohan wasn’t),
this is Lohan’s first outing at "carrying" a film. And while
she is fully capable of doing so, she doesn’t have the product to work
with here, being forced to resort to a kind of freneticism that doesn’t
quite mesh. A highlight though is a musical number that features Lohan’s
talents and it is thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable.
Another waste is Glenne Headly as Lola’s
mother Karen, who is relegated to the background really doing nothing
more than relating Lola’s escapades over the phone to her father. The
only good thing about this is that it fills in the viewer as to what is
actually going on in the story. Joyously though is Carol Kane who, as
always, is a breath of fresh air, here providing us with another quirky
character, this time in the form of drama teacher Miss Baggoli.
Directed by Sara Sugarman,
"Confessions" is at the very least, a disappointing
kaleidoscope of saccharine silliness and mayhem. Inconsistent mixes of
live action and animation, over-used cliches, bad timing and
over-the-top out-of-place musical numbers only add to the confusion
already created by a poor script.
A highlight for the pre-teen set: a
parade of fashion that will send heads spinning over the rapid and never
duplicated costume changes. (Of course, parents’ heads will spin when
their daughters hit the malls wanting to buy Lola’s clothes.)
Despite it’s shortcomings, I expect
"Confessions" to do a tidy sum at the box office thanks to
Lohan’s built-in appeal which is still undeniable even here. Note to
Michael Eisner: given the embroiled corporate battling within Disney
right now, it might have been a good idea to hold off on releasing this
film until after the stockholders meeting next week!
Lindsay Lohan: Lola
Glenne Headley: Karen
Carol Kane: Miss Baggoli
Allison Pill: Ella
Megan Fox: Carla
Directed by Sara Sugarman. Written by
Gail Parent based on a book by Dyan Sheldon. A Walt Disney Pictures
release. Rated PG.
[ Home ] [ Movie Reviews ] [ Oscars ] [ Film Festivals ] [ Box Office Top Ten ] [ Coming Soon ] [ Studio Links ] [ Other Links ]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Confessions of a Teenage Drama
Queen
by
debbie lynn elias
| Who doesn’t like Lindsay
Lohan. Her cuteness, charm and acting ability captivated one’s
attention with "The Parent Trap." Her turn as Casey in the
Disney tv-movie "Life-Size" was pre-teen endearment at its
finest. Her comedic talents exploded with "Freaky Friday." She
has become the leading, leading lady (but for Julie Andrews who is in a
league all her own) in the Disney stables. So, what the heck happened
with "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen"???
|
Photo © Copyright Touchstone Pictures
|
|
Mary Elizabeth Cep aka the Broadway bound
Lola, is the product of divorce. Always the center of attention, with
her parents’ divorce that need intensifies and then compounds even
further, when Lola’s mom moves the family from Manhattan to the
suburbs of Jersey. (Horrors! Even worse, Jersey looks a strange bit like
Canada.) No longer the pride of Manhattan and the Queen of the World,
Lola is thrust into a new school, trying to make a new life and new
friends, and has to do so as an outsider. With her own flambouyantly
out-there New York style, Lola can’t imagine how her new school could
have possibly survived without her presence and tackles her first day of
school with reckless abandon and an egomaniacal attitude. Bad move Lola.
Seems there’s already an alpha female, center of attention in Dellwood
in the form of the beautiful, rich and snooty Carla Santini. And if you
know girls, there is no way they step aside gracefully for the
competition. They will also fight to the fi! nish to hold on what’s
theirs, be it friends, clothes, boys or status.
Filling her own self-absorbed need, Lola
hooks with the class Plain Jane, Ella, who reveres Lola. Ella is in awe
of Lola. Ella will listen for hours on end to Lola’s self-important
tall tales - and believe them. Ella is in awe of Lola. (Yep, already
said it, but can’t say it enough - essential to Lola’s ego, dontcha
know.) They even like the same band which, sadly, it appears it breaking
up giving rise to some not so funny antics by Lola who is trying to
maintain alpha status with at least Ella. In the meantime, the war is on
between Lola and her nemesis Carla as Carla spreads gossip that Lola is,
among others, a liar, (due in large part to the incidents surrounding
the concert incident). Sabotage and rivalry ensue as Lola still pushes
to snatch that center of attention spot away from Carla (so that others
beside Ella with worship and adore her), ultimately vying for lead in
the school play with a showdown between the two.
Based on the book by Dyan Sheldon, the
screen adaptation by Gail Parent is a poor advertisement for what is an
enjoyable story in print. Parent has the story and the characters
"all over the place" with no real defining story line, written
with little snippets of adventures that appear to have been just stuck
together in the final cut of the film. Even more disturbing is the
incongruity and unbelievability of Lola. Even drama queens have their
standards and needs ands those needs don’t allow for hanging with
those below your "A" group status (which Lola believes she
is). Compounding this is the lack of any modicum of believability in the
majority of "tall tales" told by Lola - especially one
involving the death of her father. Now what daughter would manufacture
the death of a father she loves so dearly!
The biggest downside of the poor script
is the waste of some talented actresses and especially Lohan. Apparently
second choice for the role Lola (which allegedly was turned down by
former Disney pet, Hilary Duff and after seeing the film one has to
wonder if Duff was lucky enough to read the script first and Lohan wasn’t),
this is Lohan’s first outing at "carrying" a film. And while
she is fully capable of doing so, she doesn’t have the product to work
with here, being forced to resort to a kind of freneticism that doesn’t
quite mesh. A highlight though is a musical number that features Lohan’s
talents and it is thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable.
Another waste is Glenne Headly as Lola’s
mother Karen, who is relegated to the background really doing nothing
more than relating Lola’s escapades over the phone to her father. The
only good thing about this is that it fills in the viewer as to what is
actually going on in the story. Joyously though is Carol Kane who, as
always, is a breath of fresh air, here providing us with another quirky
character, this time in the form of drama teacher Miss Baggoli.
Directed by Sara Sugarman,
"Confessions" is at the very least, a disappointing
kaleidoscope of saccharine silliness and mayhem. Inconsistent mixes of
live action and animation, over-used cliches, bad timing and
over-the-top out-of-place musical numbers only add to the confusion
already created by a poor script.
A highlight for the pre-teen set: a
parade of fashion that will send heads spinning over the rapid and never
duplicated costume changes. (Of course, parents’ heads will spin when
their daughters hit the malls wanting to buy Lola’s clothes.)
Despite it’s shortcomings, I expect
"Confessions" to do a tidy sum at the box office thanks to
Lohan’s built-in appeal which is still undeniable even here. Note to
Michael Eisner: given the embroiled corporate battling within Disney
right now, it might have been a good idea to hold off on releasing this
film until after the stockholders meeting next week!
Lindsay Lohan: Lola
Glenne Headley: Karen
Carol Kane: Miss Baggoli
Allison Pill: Ella
Megan Fox: Carla
Directed by Sara Sugarman. Written by
Gail Parent based on a book by Dyan Sheldon. A Walt Disney Pictures
release. Rated PG.
[ Home ] [ Movie Reviews ] [ Oscars ] [ Film Festivals ] [ Box Office Top Ten ] [ Coming Soon ] [ Studio Links ] [ Other Links ]
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