lyrafowlpotter
This made-for-TV-movie children's movie was jarring, to say the least. The biggest positive going for this film is the lead Emily Alyn Lind, whom anchors the movie and while she is at times obnoxious, is always entertaining, andamazing at physical comedy for such a young age, she is always fun to watch. This would have been a 100% disaster without Lind, but because of her, it only half failed. The tone of the movie overall is absolutely all over the place and is completely screwball and silly. I appreciated that there were two parents, and ones was stay at home mom, these days that is "taboo", which is bizarre to me. I appreciated the silly over-the-top way her parents interacted with Jamie. I totally don't mind that her mom was cooking a lot or even that she's bad at it, I know tons of stay at home moms who cook and clean and raise kids, and they are pretty darn amazing women, there is nothing at all wrong with that. Though it is decidedly less depreciating to adults and human intelligence than the last two seasons of Hannah Montana and i-Carly, and most of the teen sitcoms to come after that play on Disney and Nick. The silliness of the parents suited the tone of the movie, which is decidedly non-serious, and very surreal and screwball. I can see why some would be turned off by it, in fact, it took me half the movie to not hate it myself. The musical numbers were superfluous, and are generally obnoxious, and disruptive to the continuity of the movie, basically, they are filler to pad the run time of the film. They are not out of the norm I suppose for the absolute absurdity of this film, but I found it silly just how weird the main character is, she is pretty "out there", I was pretty out there myself, but she constantly thinks adults are bizarre and weird, and yet, her and her friend Isabella are just plain creepy sometimes, they are not "normal" by any stretch, and even weird than their adult counterparts that they criticize so vehemently. Jamie dances around in the middle of class, and does all kinds of weird things because she actually thinks she's somewhere else when she daydreams... It was definitely over-the-top in that regard, and was a bit like Lizzie Maguire on steroids without the heart and sympathy. This hatred towards adults and blatant hypocrisy, is probably the biggest detriment to the movie. I cannot help but dislike the main character for her ingratitude as well, if had that big of a room to myself when I was that age, that big of a bed, and that big of a walk in closet, I would have been ecstatic, plus the giant house, and a fridge full of food... I literally lived in a room smaller than her closet except when I was really young and shared a room with 4 of my siblings, and wondered what I would eat on a day-to-day basis, . I know most kids are not like Jamie is, and that is why I get frustrated by movies such as this, why can they get just a smidgen closer to what the size of a typical American household looks like? For most, it was a lot closer to my childhood than Jamie's. On the upside, it is refreshing to see a story that still has clear cut morals by the end, however, a day and age where people seem to think morals are irrelevant and yet they still want people people to respect them and have morals. As goofy as this movie is, at least the characters learned from their mistakes in the end. I appreciated that this movie did teach a lesson, even if I didn't necessarily like some of the other aspects of this film, it was very entertaining once you get use to the silly goofball tone, if you can get used to it. It was also refreshing to see that the popular girl wasn't a total jerk like they usually are in these types of movies, and actually had a heart.God Bless ~Amy
mgrif426
We had guests over the night this aired and everyone enjoyed this movie- from adults with no children, parents of tweens and teenagers, grandparents, and kids (both boys and girls) from 11-16. It is a fun and family-friendly musical that has a lot to offer. The 'message' is positive, the humor witty, the songs catchy, and characters well cast. From the actors to the music to the props and set design, overall this was a success! As a parent, I don't think there are any hidden meanings or issues that need to psycho-analyzed, just a lot of musical fun and adventure to be simply enjoyed. I think the fans of the book series will be thrilled- and eager for a second installment!
boblipton
The young girls who take the major roles in this movie are cute. After that, the movie gets hyperkinetic and creepy. This may be in imitation of the books by Jim Benton. The overall effect is of an effort by people who have little idea of what kids actually want making a movie for kids, but the consumer are the adults around kids who also have no idea what kids want.Although a few actual insights are tossed in, this movie portrays pre-teen girls as middle-aged women who see the world in bright colors and are overwhelmed by the senseless adult world in which they are expected to take full part. This argues terrible parenting these days and encourages people in the belief that if a child is hysterical, then the proper response is to acknowledge the hysteria as a perfectly normal and rational response. In other words, this movie encourages bad behavior in the name of self expression. How utterly bizarre.When I was a child, I had confidence in the adults around me and understood that the world was more complicated than I -- as yet -- understood. This movie, by its structure, acknowledges the complications and mocks its subjects for not understanding those complications. It sends two conflicting messages: they are full partners, able to criticize accurately, yet they don't understood what is going on and should be mocked for that. It equates lack of information with stupidity. It's as if Chuck Jones had directed all those Road Runner cartoons and had claimed the audience was coyotes.
