I can't believe this movie practically had me crying in the beginning. If the movie does anything right, it's the ability to try and jerk a tear out of it's audience. It worked on my mom! I was totally skeptical at first-- not a huge Hilary Duff fan --but this is a pretty good movie, despite the facts that it employs every single movie character cliche and (at times) has the cheesiest dialogue ever.

Duff plays Terri, who wants to go to a music school in LA. Her brother Paul(played by Jason Ritter-- who's too cute for his own good!) is practically her best friend, he supports her like crazy. Her father doesn't want her to go, but her flaky aunt and cool mom do. When Terri's brother is killed in a car accident, she's not sure she wants to sing anymore, and dad certainly doesn't want her going away to a music school. So when Terri is accepted, her mom and aunt cover her back so she can go. Paul would've wanted her to go. She meets a cute guy (Oliver James, in the same role he played in What a Girl Wants), a cool teacher (John Corbett!), and makes some cool friends. Can she overcome her grieving to perform in front of the crowd and sing her heart out?? Will she win the $10,000 scholarship that the music school offers to the best performance? Take a wild guess... hey, it might just surprise you. (But if you pay attention it probably won't. That's okay, though!!)

The emotion is there-- that of a grieving sister and family. It's well played; I ALMOST cried (I held it in!). The dialogue is so bad in some spots, but funny and original in others. It seemed to yo-yo back and forth. It's a cute movie for teen girls, they'll swoon over Oliver James, and a pretty good movie for anyone else who can see past the cliches (I did) and just enjoy the movie. Of course it's going to be cheesy sometimes, but that's the charm! Check this one out sometime!! RECOMMENDED!!