Raise Your Voice (2004): Dir: Sean McNamara / Cast: Hilary Duff, John Corbett, Rita Wilson, David Keith, Rebecca De Mornay: Bland teen drama about higher standards and setting goals. Obviously the filmmakers didn't have that in mind when making this crap. Hillary Duff plays Terri Fletcher who dreams of attending a performing arts school but her father forbids it. When she and her brother sneak out to a concert they are struck by a drunk driver on the way home and her brother is killed. Terri blames herself and quits singing but her mother and aunt devise a plan where she supposedly stays at her aunt's place while really attending the school. Predictable outcome where the strict father walks in on her concert at the right moment and realizes he was wrong. Formula drab with a minimal performance by Duff who goes by the motions here. Directed by Sean McNamara who provides insight into music academies but characters are stereotypes. Rita Wilson plays the encouraging mother. David Keith is horrible as the strict father who will see the light. John Corbett plays a music professor who will see potential. What potential he saw in this film, I'll never figure out. Rebecca De Mornay as Duff's aunt is also a waste and makes one appreciate her sexy work in Risky Business. For a much better film on the subject see Fame, which brings stronger conviction to these themes. Score: 2 / 10

I loved this movie! Oliver James did an fantastic job it this film. He showcased his acting abilities and his breathtaking voice! If your wondering whats up with Oliver today 2011...Oliver James does not have an official fan site yet. However he does have an official myspace page. Oliver also has an unofficial fan site...it is not his official fan site but it has loads of information, pictures, videos of him as well as his new music! The fan site www.oliverjamesfans.webs.com has the link to his official myspace page and tons of other information about him! Oliver has so much talent..please check out his other movies!OJF

Firstly, I was quite impressed by this movie. The songs in it, well, they were mostly what I expected - not very deep but lively pop music. However the instrumental music was awesome and by this, I would give the gold to Denise and her violin. The storyline was cute and you could follow it without any difficulties. I think I'll take it out again when I'm sad or lonely, take an ice cream or yogurt to go with it and enjoy. Spoiler-consisting remarks: 1) Jay was incredibly...well..HOT. I couldn't stop staring at him in some scenes. Though I think the whole relationship drama, a little bit decreased his value. I think there should have been a scene somewhere, him telling Robin something like "I don't want to be together. We don't have a relationship." Just because at one moment we see him being slightly mad at Robin after he was supposed to bring a snack, then he is happy about seeing her, then he flirts with Terri and suddenly him and Terri form a couple. 2) For one, about the predictability, I found that the moment Denise talked about having difficult time with money at home, the faith of the scholarship was quite confident. However, when seeing the performances, I find that she indeed deserved it the most. 3) When Terri's dad went to see aunt Nina, I wondered, did he really leave in 5 minutes or how is it that he didn't notice no sign of Terri's stuff anywhere. 4) About clingy Robin, I felt she could have been more meaner. The slight kiss in the rehearsal room and then that's that. How come no payback?On the whole, I gave it a 7/10. Yeah, I'm surprised too how my hand didn't move to go lower. As a lone fish in the sea of movies, it's not a sinker but it doesn't compare up to many big accomplishments out there, but, out of teen movies, I would definitely point it out as my favourite, alongside "She's All That". Both sort of corny, sort of predictable but yet solid sweets.

Some bad lines, seriously bad makeup on all characters (sorry) , Some over produced notes BUT has everything i wanted from it! Has a lot of drama and OMG moments. Overall i liked it. I loved the song and the cast meshed nicely. The 'relationship' between Hilary & Oliver was realistic and lovable.Its a Clean Teen Family Movie! the relationship is full of innocent moments and Hilary plays them well. The Car crash scene was very well done... it was nice that it wasn't over done with special effects! gave me shivers! Easy and clear storyline to follow!!! The film covers a lot of emotional times and hard choices... it covers a lot of issues and has a good happy-go-lucky soundtrack.i love it xSx87x