My wife convinced me to bring this fluff little movie home, and to tell you the truth, I was disappointed for not so obvious reasons. Granted this was just another teen-queen Duff vehicle that runs on sugar and not gas, thus it doesn't get very far...

*****SPOILERS***** however, I didn't think it was appropriate for the movie to take the tack that she lied to her father (David Keith) to get into the summer program, then continue to lie to him to stay in it...then the aunt character played by Rebecca DeMornay conspired with the the mom (Rita Wilson) character to continue the lie against the father. According to the movie, the ends justifies the means. This is not a great message to teach the teens and preteens, that it's OK for a kid to lie to their parents and that it's OK for a wife to lie to her husband. No wonder this movie bombed like it did...well...there are other reasons for it's failure. I also didn't buy into the setup of the school, when stated that if you get caught doing things you're not supposed to do, (i.e., drinking, etc.) you will be dismissed. Then the Jay character (Hillary's on screen boyfriend) proceeds to go out drinking after Hillary walked in on him and another girl kissing...there are no negative consequences for him. I would have liked to see Duff take a harder stance with the issue, especially in light of the fact that her brother was killed by a drunk driver. The wrong message is put forth in that it's OK to drink when you're underage to cope with your problems, and the only consequence is spending the night on the roof with Hillary Duff. Puh-leeeeeeeze! This movie is horrible for kids today...and they had an opportunity to make it enjoyable, although it has been done before with Fame. There was one bright spot in the casting...Johnny Lewis, who plays a nerdy innovative percussionist. His character was enjoyable to watch, and hindsight 20/20, I wish the movie had starred him and taken it from his perspective.

I thought the hubris Duff showed in one interview I heard about was tragic, she was quoted as saying that it was a challenge for her to sing badly in parts of the movie to show her character's growth as a singer...ha!!! My my my, aren't we full of ourselves!!!

OK, so, we've got this great dramatic story about this girl with a great singing talent, who pushes through her father's hovering and her brother's death to get accepted into one of the premiere music schools in the country.

Great. Who do we cast as the lead? Um, Hillary Duff? You're kidding me, right?

Anyone who can buy into the premise of Hillary Duff as a singing prodigy needs to watch some American Idol reruns and realize that Duff, who can barely carry a tune, would probably have not even made it to Hollywood. She has made millions of dollars by pretending to act and sing in order to market her cuteness and general likability, which has been eaten up by her core fanbase of seven- to twelve-year-old girls. The problem with Raise Your Voice lies in the very serious, dramatic storyline crafted by writers Mitch Rotter and Sam Schreiber. It's just too serious for Duff's fanbase, and she doesn't possess the acting ability to make it believable for the rest of us.

To their credit, Rotter and Schreiber, along with director Sean McNamara, did a very skillful job in putting together an engaging drama. Some elements of the movie were brilliant, such as Terri's reaction to bright light in her eyes after the accident. The movie was just bogged down by its bungling cast of actors. The only truly good performances were by some of the supporting cast members, such as John Corbett, David Keith and Rita Wilson. Johnny Lewis was a terrific comic relief, but his character's main story - a romance with an uptight, virtuosic pianist named Sloane - seems to fit a more typical giggles-and-good-times Hillary Duff movie. Duff's abysmal singing only made McNamara's job even more difficult, and you can actually hear the pitch correction on her voice at some points of the movie, which makes everything seem that much more ridiculous. And something that especially bothered me was Jay's (Oliver James) guitar-playing during the scholarship performance. There was absolutely no rhythm to it at all.

Overall, it's still a cute movie, but it could have been so much better.

Terri Fletcher (Hilary Duff) has a lovely singing voice who wants desperately to get into Bristol Hillman Music Conservatory in LA for the summer. Her brother secretly submits a DVD to the school. When they sneak out to a concert, they get into a car crash and her brother dies. With her guilt and her father's disapproval, she no longer wants to sing and go to the summer camp. However she relents and follows her aunt and mother's advice.

The big problem is that while Hilary Duff is almost good enough as an actress. She's no where good enough as a singer. She plays the bubbly innocent girl well. The big melodrama about the brother's death sets an interesting tone. However the school plays like a bad 'Fame' copy. Other than Kat Dennings, none of the students are interesting at the school. John Corbett is hopelessly cheesy as the personable teacher. It's a Hilary Duff vehicle that she's not quite good enough to drive.