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If TV veteran Locklear's name on the DVD cover isn't enough
to put you off, then the précis may well be: Jean Hamilton
(Locklear) and her two daughters, Holly (Duff) and seven-year-old
Zoe (Aria Wallace), have just moved to yet another town following
yet another of mum's busted romances.
It's there though that Holly meets Ben (Noth), the uncle
of a new friend. He knows everything there is to know about
romance, and before mum can even unpack her toiletries, Holly
and pal are scheming to bring the two olds together - via
the ever so Machiavellian device known as The Internet.
As good as Locklear, Noth, even Duff, can be - Locklear's
always at home as a small screen bee-yatch, Noth was in his
element as the enigmatic slut on 'Sex and the City', and Duff
has a beaming smile that would melt a thousand Wonka bars
- they all play about as authentically as Fairley Arrow in
a kidnap case here.
Heck, the spurious Arrow case rings truer than this too-perfect-to-be-real
set-up.
Locklear's too good-looking to be devoid of any after-dark
shenanigans in her life, Duff's too pretty to keep playing
the quiet student who can only make friends with the local
recluse, and Mr Big as an all-round nice guy that's written
the book on romance but sleeps with nothing but a hot-water
bottle every night?
I can swallow an oversized antibiotic easier than that.
In fairness, those that are going to be spending their well-earned
pocket money seeing the movie want nothing but this. For all
intents and purposes, they'll be satisfied enough too - especially
if it's merely the appeal of Mrs Duff that's pulling them
to the DVD rental store.
Typical of Duff's film efforts, it's got the cute boys, cute
gals, cute pop music, cute one-liners, schmaltzy virgin apposite
mush, and the forced-but-fuzzy finale. Frankly though, I think
Duff's last effort, Raise Your Voice, might have had
more oomph in it than this intermittently dreary number.
It might be time to stray from the "same old, same old"
Hilary and try something a little more enterprising or a little
meatier. Maybe that can be your excuse for calling long-time
adversary Lindsay Lohan, who's seemingly doing just that.
DVD Extras
The movie comes with the expected batch of extras –
cutesy supplements aimed at the prepubescent bubblegum chewer.
Heather and Hilary chat to us about their on-and-off-screen
relationship, there’s a behind-the-scenes feature with
little Ms Duff too (in which she teaches us about ‘blogging’),
there’s also a couple of deleted scenes, outtakes, a
featurette on ‘getting that perfect look’ and a
so-so commentary from the filmmakers.
All in all, it’ll send anyone over the age of 18 heading
for the mountains – but entertain the littlies thoroughly.
Conclusion: Movie 50% Extras: 50%
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