Today’s Prayer Focus
The Lizzie Mcguire Movie
MPA Rating:
for mild thematic elements.
for mild thematic elements.
| Moral Rating: | not reviewed |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
|
| Primary Audience: | Younger teen age girls |
| Genre: | Family Adventure Comedy |
| Length: | 1 hr. 30 min. |
| Year of Release: | 2003 |
| USA Release: |
May 2, 2003 (wide release) |
| Featuring |
Hilary Duff Adam Lamberg Robert Carradine Hallie Todd Jake Thomas |
| Director |
Jim Fall |
| Producer |
Susan Estelle Jansen David Roessell Stan Rogow |
| Distributor |
Here’s what the distributor says about their film: “Lizzie McGuire has graduated from middle school and takes a trip to Rome, Italy with her class. And what was supposed to be only a normal trip, becomes a teenager's dream come true.”
Positive
Neutral
Neutral—I took my son to see this movie along with two of his cousins. He really likes the TV show and was excited about the movie. I was bored stiff and so were they! It felt like it lasted 3 hours! The teacher was portrayed as stupid and Lizzie had to lie to get to do what she wanted, saying she was sick when she wasn’t. Gordo lied for her and was pictured as a “true friend.” However, in the end it made it seem as if Lizzie would be grounded for what she’d done. It had a few cute parts, but I wouldn’t pay to see it or buy the movie when it comes out. However, we saw “Holes” on the same night and we LOVED it.
[Good / 2]
[Good / 2]
Elaine, age 41
Negative
Negative—My 9 year old daughter loved this movie. I on the other hand, did not. Lizzie is in Rome and sneaks out repeatedly to meet a young man she meets there. Lizzie never really gets in trouble for this. The man turns out to be a slime ball, but nothing really bad happens. I don’t think young girls need Lizzie as their role model. Sneaking around in strange countries, lying, and meeting up with older guys are not the behavior of someone I want my daughter to emulate. In addition, Lizzie is beginning to dress slightly trashy. I came home and told my husband that I felt Lizzie is trying hard to become the next Brittany Spears. I wish I hadn’t taken my daughter to see this movie.
[Average / 2]
[Average / 2]
Patty, age 38
Negative—I thought the movie was slow and boring. Hilary Duff is pretty and the movie made for some interesting discussions on how everything isn’t always as good as it seems. I didn’t like the lying or the way the teacher was made to look like a dork. Gordo even protects Lizzie by lying and almost gets sent home.It was an okay movie, but the 30-minute TVshow is much better.It didn’t have any profanity which was nice.
[Average / 2]
[Average / 2]
Margaret, age 40
Comments from young people
Positive—I thought that this movie had a good moral to it because the main character found out that its better to be a friend than have a friend. Also, one of the characters found out that when we lie we will always be found out. It was a good movie for children over the age of 10 who can understand the values of friendship.
[Better than Average / 4]
[Better than Average / 4]
Rochelle, age 17
Positive—A good movie for teens or younger. It is a clean movie with a surprise ending, but I think the plot was a little too far out and unrealistic. A nice movie to see on a weekend if you have nothing else to do.
[Good / 3]
[Good / 3]
Mary Anne Feeney, age 13
Positive—This movie was very good. It was sweet but there were some parts that were a little on the offensive side. Like for example Lizzie shouldn’t have lied but she did. Oh and Gordo lied which wasn’t the best. But overall this movie was a great film. I love the show so I was so excited to see the movie!! It was good because of the friendship values. It was a great kid movie. I think of myself as a kid at heart. GO SEE IT!!!
[Good / 4]
[Good / 4]
Denielle, age 14
Movie Critics
…Part love story, part rollicking European adventure, part benign girl-power treatise, …Thankfully, the fact that Hilary Duff and Co. follow in the thematic footsteps of “What a Girl Wants” should help attending families feel more comfortable about filling Hollywood’s coffers. Positive takes on friendship, loyalty, parental love, honesty and the need to overcome fear get lots of screen time. Lizzie’s not perfect. But she offers mountains of light-hearted fun heavily infused with positive messages young audiences desperately need to hear…
Loren Eaton, Focus on the Family
[Lizzie McGuire] is refreshingly tame compared to Britney Spear’s disastrous “Crossroads” targeted at the same generation… This is a lighthearted, enjoy-your-popcorn-with-your-children movie… and the sites of Rome make it delightful for adults. …
Holly McClure, Crosswalk
This [movie] is about as skimpy and lackluster an offering as you can imagine. The modified mistaken identity plot… strains to fill the runtime… Beyond the sketchily written plot and characters, one of the film’s bigger problems is that everything’s played out or over the top, thus turning what might have been cute or funny into straight-forward annoyance…
ScreenIt!
My Ratings: [Better than Average / 4]