Synopsis
Life is hard for Mary (Lindsay Lohan). In the first place, she feels her name should actuallybe “Lola,” and that is how she introduces herself to all and sundry. Then her mother goes andmoves the family from exciting Manhattan to less-than-exciting New Jersey. As if things weren’trough enough, her favourite rock group is about to break up. She is determined to keep glamourin her life, however, not to mention getting to see the band’s farewell concert. Along the way,she will…tangle herself in a web of silly, outrageous lies.
Lohan herself is showing every sign of being a gifted comic, but the material here is weak.Her character is callow and irritating, hardly giving us much to favour over her new school’sinevitable mean girl. There is some visual invention present, but the actual laughs are few andfar between. Challenging, this is not.
Audio
The 5.1 soundtrack is very active. Though it sometimes goes overboard in the surrounddepartment, producing the occasional badly placed sound effect, overall the sound is very strong,with a good sense of environment, and excellent separation between the speakers. The dialogueis clear and undistorted, and never drowned out.
Video
A very solid video transfer as well. The picture, which comes in both fullscreen and 1.85:1anamorphic widescreen aspects, is sharp, and has very strong colours, contrasts, flesh tones andblacks. A few orange-red tones are pushed a bit too strongly, but this would be my only realreservation. There is no grain or visible edge enhancement.
Special Features
The commentary is overloaded with voices: director Sara Sugarman, writer Gail Parent,producers Robert Shapiro and Jerry Leider. It is difficult to keep the two male voices straight,in particular. Though there is plenty of behind-the-scenes material here, there is also pointlessfiller (I really don’t care what everybody’s astrological sign is). “Confessions from the Set” isthe usual “everybody is so great” featurette. There is one deleted scene (“Eliza’s Fantasy”) anda Lidsay Lohan music video (“That Girl”). Finally, there’s the usual clutch of trailers. The menuis fully animated and scored.
Closing Thoughts
I’m sure we’ll see plenty of strong work from Lohan in the future. This particular feature isdismissable, however.
Special Features List
- Audio Commentary
- “Confessions from the Set” Featurette
- Deleted Scene
- Lindsay Lohan Music Video
- Trailers
Screenshots
