Barnes & Noble

During a school trip to Rome, junior-high misfit Lizzie McGuire (Hilary Duff) yearns for adventure. And, this being The Lizzie McGuire Movie, she finds it -- in the person of a teenage Italian pop idol (Yani Gellman) who grooms her to stand in for his missing partner, to whom Lizzie bears a striking resemblance. As Duff's hit song asks, "Why not?" Duff, basic cable's tween queen, shines in this spin-off of the Disney Channel series. Reality takes a vacation along with starry-eyed Lizzie (and her sardonic animated alter ego), who is persuaded to ditch her tour group led by the dreaded Miss Ubermeyer, who makes R. Lee Ermy's drill sergeant in Full Metal Jacket look like Mr. Rogers. She is aided in her deception by Gordo (Adam Lamberg), whom we suspect nurses an unrequited crush on his lifelong platonic pal, and harassed by her nemesis, the stereotypical popular, um, witch Kate (Ashlie Brillault), who issues such withering put-downs as "Outfit repeater." To pad the film's 90 minutes, there are several sightseeing and trying-on-clothes montages. And whenever the movie needs a little "oops, I did it again" touch, director Jim Fall has the wide-eyed dizzy Miss Lizzie trip, awkwardly and adorably. Add the requisite out-of-it parents and nasty younger brother, and you have all the ingredients to make our irresistible heroine more empathetic. As Lizzie says at one point, "Some say juvenile, I say genius." Or as Howlin' Wolf put it, "The men don't know, but the little girls understand." Donald Liebenson

All Movie Guide

Teen queen Lizzie McGuire grows up a bit and hits the big screen in this comedy drama, based on the popular Disney Network series. Lizzie McGuire (Hilary Duff) and her best friends Kate (Ashlie Brillault), Gordo (Adam Lamberg), and Ethan (Clayton Snyder) have just graduated from middle school, and to celebrate, they're taking part in a class trip to Rome, Italy. Eager to celebrate their new maturity as high school students, Lizzie and her pals hope to live it up in one of Europe's most fabled cities, but fate has something more spectacular in store for Lizzie. Lizzie discovers that she bears a striking resemblance to Isabella, an Italian teen-pop idol famous for her duets with heart-throb Paolo (Yani Gellman) -- so much so that when Paolo and Isabella have a falling out, he asks Lizzie to take Isabella's place for an upcoming concert. Lizzie, however, isn't sure she feels comfortable stepping into the spotlight, and is even less sure about the way she feels about Paolo, who makes no secret of his infatuation with her. Things don't get any simpler for Lizzie when her family gets wind of her newfound fame, and catch the next flight to Italy. The Lizzie McGuire Movie also features Robert Carradine and Hallie Todd as Lizzie's parents, and Jake Thomas as her younger brother Matt, all of whom reprise their roles from the television series. Mark Deming

Product Details

• UPC: 786936223576
• Source: WALT DISNEY VIDEO
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Pre-1954 Standard (1.33.1), Cinemascope (2.35:1)
• Presentation: Pan & Scan, Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English
• Time: 1:34:00
• Sales Rank: 10,475

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen/Lizzie Mcguire Movie

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