The Perfect Man

Don't hold back. Don't give up.
Official site | Synopsis | Awards | DVD | Review | Interview

Directed by	Sean McNamara
Written by	Sam Schreiber
Starring	Hilary Duff Oliver James David Keith Rita Wilson John Corbett Kat Dennings
Distributed by	New Line Cinema
Released	October 8, 2004 ( USA)
Running time	103 min.
Language	English/French
Budget	US$15,000,000

Cast overview, first billed only:

Hilary Duff	Terri Fletcher
Oliver James	Jay Corgan
David Keith	Simon Fletcher
Dana Davis	Denise Gilmore
Johnny Lewis	Engelbert 'Kiwi' Wilson
Rita Wilson	Francis Fletcher
Lauren C. Mayhew	Robin Childers
Kat Dennings	Sloane
Jason Ritter	Paul Fletcher
Rebecca De Mornay	Aunt Nina
John Corbett	Mr. Torvald
Carly Reeves	Kelly
James Avery	Mr. Gantry
Robert Trebor	Mr. Wesson
Steven T. Palmer	Street Drummer

Also Known As:
Heart of Summer ( Australia) (working title)
Untitled Christian Music Project (USA) (working title)

Raise Your Voice is an American drama film that was released in 2004 (see 2004 in film). It was directed by Sean McNamara, and stars Hilary Duff. Oliver James, David Keith, and Dana Davis co-star. The film tells the story of a teen from a small town who spends the summer at a performing arts school in Los Angeles against her father's will. The film received scathing reviews by critics and flopped at the Box Office, but won over Duff's fans.

Plot and/or ending details follow.

Terri Fletcher, the main character, loves to sing. Her older brother is her inspiration and practically her best friend. Her parents, though supportive, believe there are more important things. On the way to a concert one night with her brother, they get in a car crash, and Terri's brother is killed. She gives up her scholarship, and her dream of going to a popular L.A. music school. She gives in and asks her father who 'absolutely No!' Her mother decides otherwise and sends Terri off to go on vacation with her aunt. At least that's what they tell her father, as she sets off to L.A. to achieve her dreams. While going to Bristol-Hillman Conservatory, Terri experiences difficulty fitting in and a love with Jay. In the end, Terri overcomes her grief, singing a farewell to her brother in a song she composes. She finds she really is talented, and wins over Jay with a final song with her friends, family and classmates.

Synopsis

A teenage girl learns that reaching for your dreams isn't always easy in this heartfelt drama with music. Terri Fletcher (Hilary Duff) is a small-town girl with a great love of music and a fine singing voice. Already one of the lead vocalists in her church choir, Terri has also appeared at local nightspots with some help from her older brother. When he tragically dies in an auto accident, Terri becomes all the more determined to make the most of her talent, and she's elated when she's accepted as part of a summer study program at one of California's most prestigious music schools; however, Terri attends over the stern objections of her father. As she tries to hold together her relationship with her family, she finds herself falling for one of her fellow students, Jay (Oliver James), and competing for attention against dozens of kids whose talent rivals her own. Raise Your Voice also features Jason Ritter, Rebecca De Mornay, Rita Wilson, David Keith, and John Corbett.

Awards: 1 win & 3 nominations

Review

In my review of "Cheaper by the Dozen"(2003), I mentioned the difficulty Hilary Duff is going to have breaking away from typecasting as Lizzie McGuire. The fact that this movie was a Brookwell/McNamara Production, just like the series that made her famous may be another obstacle from that typecasting. Make no mistake though -- Hilary Duff *IS* a talented actress and singer(in spite of corporate punk pretensions), and even with this formulaic material she proves it. But the way things are looking now, she couldn't break out of the Disney universe if she did hardcore pornography.

Terri Fletcher(Duff) sings in a local church chorus, and for her own personal enjoyment. She also thinks her singing can make her a star, and so does her brother Paul(Jason Ritter) who secretly recommends her for a scholarship to a school for the performing arts in Los Angeles. But her father(David Keith) wants her to stay at home and wait tables at the family diner. After she and her brother sneak out to go to a concert one night, some drunk driver plows into them on the way home. Her brother dies, she survives and is left with crippling flashbacks and survivor's guilt. But just when she thinks she's going to have to spend the rest of her life at the bottom of the barrel, along comes that scholarship to the performing arts school she didn't even know she entered. Of course, the only reason she doesn't want to go is because she's afraid to face the wrath of Dad, so Mom(Rita Wilson) and Aunt Nina(Rebecca De Mornay) tell Daddy she's going to spend time with her aunt, while smuggling her off to that school. And the rest of the movie involves Terri trying to make friends in the big city, cover-up her lie to her father, and deal with her own fear of bright lights, courtesy of that random drunk driver.

Too much about this movie is predicable; The overbearing father, sympathetic avant-garde artistic aunt, the tragic car wreck, the boyfriend with an ex-girlfriend who won't let go(who Terri catches putting the moves on and thinks is unfaithful to her), and yes even the triumphant concert at the end. Having said all that, I must reiterate that I don't want my criticism of this movie to be interpreted as another Duff-bashing tirade. Because regardless of the cookie-cutter plot line, Duff is still outstanding. Yes, she's a better actress than a singer, but both of these aspects of her are far superior to the movie. And if you DON'T believe she can play anyone else but Lizzie McGuire, you should've seen her in a highly publicized episode of Joan of Arcadia from the Spring of 2005. So while it's nowhere near the fluff-piece that her first big series was, it makes you wish there were more parts out there that are better for her.

DVD

Genre: Drama / Romance / Music

Plot Outline: A girl from a small town (Hilary Duff) heads to the big city of Los Angeles to spend the summer at a performing arts high school.

User Comments: Tragically Predictable

MPAA: Rated PG for thematic elements and language.
Runtime: USA:103 min
Country: USA
Language: English / French
Color: Color
Sound Mix: DTS / Dolby Digital / SDDS
Certification: Brazil:Livre / Australia:PG / Finland:K-7 / Netherlands:MG6 / Philippines:G / Singapore:PG / UK:PG / USA:PG

Trivia

Was originally entitled "Heart of Summer", but the film's release date was pushed back from August to October, so the title was changed accordingly.

Goofs

Continuity: At the end of the movie when everyone is singing alone to Terri's song, Solan is directly behind Terri's dad, but in subsequent shots they swap places several times.

Quotes:
Simon Fletcher: And Nina?
Aunt Nina: Yes?
Simon Fletcher: Don't corrupt my baby. She's too much like you already.
Aunt Nina: Don't worry, Simon. I'll have her tattooed, with blue hair and married to a rapper in no time. Nighty-night.

User Comments:

14 out of 21 people found the following comment useful:-
Tragically Predictable, 7 June 2005

Hilary Duff Talks About "Raise Your Voice"

On Relationships, Singing, and Making Movies

What’s it like to be the unpopular new kid in town? Hilary Duff admits she doesn’t have much experience in that regard. But in the teen drama “Raise Your Voice,” her character goes through that and more in her quest to follow her dream of being a singer.

The idea for "Raise Your Voice" came from New Line music executive Mitch Rotter. "We had wanted to do a truly music-driven film, something just short of a 'sing at the drop of a hat' musical, where the music was as much a part of the narrative as any of the other elements,” says Rotter. Hilary Duff was approached for the starring role in "Raise Your Voice" before cutting her first album, and after finishing her "Lizzie McGuire" movie. Producer Sara Risher feels the camera really loves Hilary and says, "She has such a dynamic screen presence and it was just very serendipitous that it all came together and we were able to cast her in this film." Once Hilary was onboard, the film, which had been stalled in the pre-production phase, began picking up speed.

Co-stars, including Oliver James, John Corbett, and Rita Wilson, were cast and filming began in January 2004. While filming, Duff had the difficult task of balancing her acting career with her singing career, but managed to handle both despite her seemingly non-stop schedule.

Is it normal for you to have so many projects going on in one year?

You know what? It seems kind of normal now. I think that there’s really no way to prepare yourself, to say, “Oh, I’ve got all this going on.” You just do it. It’s like I want to be able to do all of these things, and I have to be really prepared to do it. It doesn’t really bother me, every day thinking that I’m going to have to switch modes to singing or acting or traveling, or this, that and the other. You just kind of do it. It’s just kind of natural.

Is it the nervous, raw energy that keeps you going?
I think so. The energy is addicting almost. Even though it’s really hard work, I don’t think you could do it unless you loved it. I love it, but it definitely keeps me going. A new place every night – doing this, doing that – it’s crazy. In “Raise Your Voice,” you’re playing the outsider. In real life, you’ve been a star a while.

How do you get those feelings of not belonging to come out for an acting job?

It was hard. People have been asking me today like what the most challenging part of the movie was, and it wasn’t the crying scenes. I think that’s much easier than trying to make people laugh. Crying on command is not that difficult. But the parts that were harder for me were after the tragedy happens to Terri in her life, it’s kind of like just like a closed-off, numb feeling. She doesn’t feel any emotion – no happiness, no sad. She’s kind of like nothing. That was the hardest thing for me. And then going to the school and feeling like the outsider, I kind of learned how to do that a lot with Lizzie McGuire because she was the dork that didn’t really fit in. And everybody kind of made Terri feel very unwelcome at the school at first.

Do the singing scenes reflect your real process as far as what you go through to get to a certain point with your voice?

I think so. It’s a little more difficult in this movie because I was singing arias and stuff I never have to sing for the type of music that I sing. But there’s definitely times that I get that frustrated when I can’t sing something that I want to or I can’t hit a certain note that day. There’s definitely a process where I’m writing and I’m like, “This is stupid. Why did I write this? Let’s start from the beginning.” And I’ll end up throwing something away that I really did like, just because it didn’t sound that great that day. There’s definitely some challenging parts.

Are you active in lessoning to tapes or are your producers so good they find your material on their own?

On the second album I worked with a lot of people that I worked with on the Metamorphosis album. And when I worked on Metamorphosis I was so nervous and shy about going into the studio and working with people, they eventually toward the end made me feel so comfortable and so secure with myself. I loved working with them. I have a great relationship with them. I talk to them [all the time]. When we started talking about the second album, I was like, “I want to work with all the same people.” They knew what was going on in my life, what I was going through. I would call them and say, “I feel like this right now. I want a song about this…” I never really felt like I had enough time to write my whole album and I don’t know if I’m secure enough with myself to do that. But I wrote three songs on the album, one I wrote with my sister. It’s so personal and these people really got what I was going through and how I feel inside. I think that’s what makes it good and that’s what makes me relate to them.

Is your relationship with your mother similar to the relationship your character has with her mom in this movie?

My relationship with my mom is so amazing. We never got to have that stage that people go through, like when you’re 13 and you think you’re too cool for your parents. When you’re embarrassed by them and stuff. We never went through that because I was constantly working and she constantly had to be there. We just because best friends. I tell her everything. She’s really my role model and my inspiration. She’s such a good person and such a strong person. A lot of people give her flack for being strong and being smart, but I think I envy that in her.

Did you have curfews growing up?

I still have curfews and sometimes I get grounded, which I is kind of weird to me.

For what reason?

Like if [my mom's] asked me to do something more than once or twice. I always get in trouble for not pulling my car into the garage, because if I don’t pull my car in, her car won’t fit. So I get in trouble for that, but it only lasts for a day. Usually it’s an excuse so I’ll stay home and hang out with her (laughing).

What time do you have to be in?

It all depends. It depends on where I am, it depends on what I’m doing. It depends on if I have to work the next day. She gives me a lot of freedom and I think that it must scare her, you know? Having me leave the house by myself, with my car. I don’t take security around with me just because it’s like I don’t want that. I want to be able to be free. She has to have a lot of faith in me and trust in me to be able to do that, even though it must scare her. But she does. She gives me so much freedom. I can be home at 1 or 2 sometimes. And if I’m working the next day, I’ll be really good and come home at 10.

What did you learn from working with Rita Wilson?

So much. She’s amazing. Most of my scenes with her were more dramatic and literally she would take a breath and it would all come and show on her face. I would look at her and it would just make me start crying because she’s so talented and so beautiful, and such an inspiring person. [She’s] just really honest and really real, and I love that.

You have good onscreen chemistry with Jason Ritter. What’s your relationship with him?

I loved working with Jason. He’s really good at making everybody laugh. He’s really fun, really lighthearted on set. We really did have a good time together. We didn’t get to work together that much, but I think it came across good onscreen. Kind of like the sneaky brother and sister relationship. I think the scene in the car, even though it was really sad because he doesn’t end up sticking around for long, was really fun. Singing together – I totally do stuff like that with my sister in the car.

How important is it to kids to pick up musical instruments now?

I think so much of that has gone away. So many schools are getting rid of music programs and it’s really sad because I know that when I started singing and stuff it was something that I always wanted to do and I never believed in myself to be able to do it. I think it’s so important. It opens someone up and you’re able to learn about yourself. You feel worth something when you can learn how to do something that’s so… I know that when I got into music, I started feeling very motivated because I wanted to achieve this challenging thing. I think it’s really important if it’s the piano or the guitar or the bass or drums or singing or anything, it’s so important to have music in your life.

Do boys approach you like Oliver James does in this movie, or is it more complicated because you’re famous?

I hate that word – the ‘f’ word – but I guess it’s more complicated because of that. It’s really sad. I don’t have a boyfriend and I’m not dating anybody. I read that I’m dating new people all the time but I’m definitely not.

Like the singer from Good Charlotte.

Actually we’re good friends. I like his band and everything. It really sucks that people say I’m dating this person, I’m dating this person… and make accusations that aren’t true with my personal life. Then of course everybody has their opinion on what’s right and wrong. It’s hard some times, you know? I’m not dating him and I don’t have a boyfriend. I’d like to date someone normal but how am I supposed to date someone normal when I don’t go to regular school, I’m never in town, and I’m always traveling? Nobody normal will ever come up and talk to me.

Why is the ‘feud’ between you and Lindsay Lohan still big news to people?

I have a feeling that if I was a normal girl that went to a normal high school, the high school would probably talk about it for two days and then it would be over. But just because people know who I am and people know who she is, everybody loves to talk about it. I don’t know her. I don’t care. If you read all the interviews, I haven’t said anything about it. I try and keep my mouth shut. That’s all I can say.