I can't think of a more by-the-numbers cliché fest. In the early 2000s, Hillary Duff had a modicum of fame, as another Disney channel generated star, in the vein of Lindsay Lohan. To her immense credit, she didn't end up a similar train wreck. Still, her limited appeal as the "charming, good girl next door" is on full display in this calculated safe movie that takes no risks.Holly Hamilton (Duff) is tired of her single mother (Heather Locklear)'s routine of dating, getting too involved, getting dumped and uprooting her and her sister constantly. So, through a variety of passing gifts and letters along, she creates a fictional secret admirer who fits her mother's standards of romantic perfection. What follows is the classic "liar revealed" story, as Holly gets in too deep and has to constantly tell lie after lie. As I said, all the clichés are here: the over-looked guy who is trying to win Holly's affections, the quirky best friend (played by Caroline Rhea, who had some success for a short time in this time of role following her tenure on "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch"), the flamboyant gay guy who is thrown in there for comic relief, the clueless klutz of a guy who provides a "competitor" for Holly's fictional boyfriend. Along with the characters, there's also the "girls just wanna have fun" far too choreographed dance sequence, the "liar revealed" scene where it looks like everything's ruined, the pop song sequence ("Collide" by Howie Day. In fairness, as far as corny early '00s pop goes, it's one of the better ones).There's absolutely nothing "bad" about this movie. If you're looking for a safe teen romance, it's not bad. It just takes no risks and goes nowhere you don't see coming a million miles away.

I saw the trailer online somewhere and thought it looked like the kind of movie I was in the mood for, but didn't expect much because...Heather Locklear? Well, it was even worse than I expected. First of all, turns out the trailer was not even accurate. It shows Heather with a guy who is never even in the movie (I guess I liked that scene, as it must have been what made me want to see it).Oh my, this was bad. It's hard for me to write this fast enough before forgetting it – it was that forgettable. I'm trying to decide between giving it a 2 and a 3. Was this a family movie? An after-school special? Then okay, maybe? On second thought, I'm not even sure it was a portrayal of good family values.TV-caliber acting with a less-than-TV-caliber production and script. Heather was sunny and upbeat, but this is just not good acting. (In fact, maybe she should have been less sunny and upbeat, in keeping with the pathetic personality of her character.) Hilary Duff (as Holly) seemed to be the only one with any real acting experience.Too unrealistic to be believable. Where do I start? The mother is so pathetic she has to leave the whole town over every breakup? With no regard for her children's stability? I could see if it was some small town where she grew up and knew everybody, but she obviously just moved there. Clearly not ready for a relationship (buuut, never fear – she quickly gets a strong sense of self at the last minute), let alone deserving of the perfect man.So desperate is this woman that she goes out with just about anybody, and will consider any marriage proposal. Even her teenage daughter knows they're all idiots. When Mom has a date with Lenny from her work, he botches the date at every turn, yet when daughter Holly seems to question her judgement, Mom says "I had a pretty good time!" It was also not accurate in its portrayal of Brooklyn teens. Or any teens, for that matter. We are expected to believe that the new girl in town walks into a tough city school and is instantly accepted, and that, during this most vulnerable time of her life, she breezes through yet another major life upheaval with no signs of stress or period of adjustment.However, Holly has had enough, so instead of rebelling like a normal kid, she sets out to fix everything. And if there was ever any doubt about the ending, you knew it for sure by now.Other than that, mostly it's just her mother embarrassing herself, Lenny being embarrassing, and the "perfect man" making a super nice doormat. Then the pace slows down even further with the instant-messaging scene. The one decent scene was in Ben's apartment when Holly claimed she needed some fatherly advice.More sitcom than romcom, only more ridiculous, with more-contrived situations and flimsier explanations. Oh, and without the comedy. At one point, when the daughter is trying to scam this perfect man to get some info out of him, she starts out by pretending she's asking for a research paper/project, but then basically tells him that her research paper is into Patsy Cline? They don't even bother to cover this up.We are more than misled to believe the Amber character is standing in the way of Holly's mother's happiness. Hooking her up with Ben is simply out of the question, since he is already with this Amber. Yet during the wedding ceremony, THEN it was a possibility?? The friend knows this girl is desperate to hook her mother up with the perfect man, yet she never mentions that her uncle is completely available? Serious water damage to a generous friend's business, and ruining someone's wedding? Because why? Because her mother and this guy both do crossword puzzles with a pen, and both like the same lame song? But even if it had been Ben that was getting hitched, why would you? Holly has never met this Amber she thinks he is marrying. How does she know Amber was not MORE of a perfect match for him? (BTW, as yet another example of how unlike real people these characters behave, nobody took the fire alarm seriously, seemingly trying more to escape the sprinklers than the fire, as they made their way – giggling – to the exit.) And what, do you suppose, are the odds of Holly arriving exactly at the moment when the minister asks if anyone has any objections to the marriage? Oh that's not an overused device. I should deduct a whole star right there.Seemingly written by a teenager (only one who is out of touch with his own kind), this film had no good characters or character development, no big laughs, no warm fuzzies, no insightful life lessons, no snappy dialogue, no plausibility, no surprises, no originality, and no shortage of plot holes. I had no anticipation whatsoever for these two people to get together. Not worth the time it took to write this, but I think people need to be warned.

Hi guys. This is a badly written story. Not much good humor even for a kids movie/chick flick. It certainly isn't the worst in the genre. Slighty offensive to gay people through stereotyping. A few plot holes. On the bright sight I find the acting in itself overall not to bad. There are a few laughs and funny lines. But I can't say I did want to watch it till the end I only did it so I could give a honest rating and review. The film is predictable until the end. And doesn't follow a strong storyline. Which shouldn't be that hard in the genre and even in the story in the film. They could have done a better job at the characters because they aren't very likable as well. I hope this was helpful. Have a nice day.

Love stories never change, this one plays mix up to a satisfying conclusion. Hillary Duff, whose performance is above par, works tirelessly at trying to keep her mom (Heather Locklear) happy and engaged in a fake relationship. Chris Noth, Big Guy from Sex And The City, is the adviser/cupid/love interest in this inventive comedy. The director has thought about casting, Locklear as an excessive dater. Noth as an acetic restaurant owner, and Duff as a cupid who is unsure about what she's doing. The cast is well put together, especially, The Styx Band, whose hits lace this film like whipped cream. "Lady" is sung on the streets of brooklyn, "Babe" becomes a hand holder and Mr. Roboto becomes a true Hoboken spectacle.