Raise Your Voice

Infobox Film
name = Raise Your Voice


caption = deletable image-caption
imdb_id = 0361696
writer = Sam Schreiber
story by = Mitch Rotter
starring = Hilary Duff
Lauren C. Mayhew
Oliver James
David Keith
Rita Wilson
John Corbett
Kat Dennings
director = Sean McNamara
producer =
distributor = New Line Cinema
released = October 8 2004
runtime = 103 min.
language = English/French
music =
awards = Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards
budget = US$15,000,000

"Raise Your Voice" is an American drama film released in 2004. It was directed by Sean McNamara and stars Hilary Duff. Oliver James, Lauren Mayhew, David Keith, and Dana Davis co-star. The film tells the story of a teenage girl from Flagstaff, Arizona who spends the summer at a performing arts school in Los Angeles against her father's will. It received mainly poor reviews from critics [cite web|title=Las Vegas Weekly|url=http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/content/fileadmin/oldsite/2004/10/07/screen5.html|accessdate=2007-12-02] and did not live up to box office expectations garnering just $13,573,284. [cite web|author=Box Office Mojo|title=Raise Your Voice|url=http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=raiseyourvoice.htm|accessdate =2007-12-02]

The film was originally conceived by New Line Cinema music executive Mitch Rotter and pitched as a "Christian Music Project." Evan Rachel Wood was originally cast as Terri, but she had to drop out because of scheduling conflicts. The film features songs from Duff's album "Hilary Duff", which was released in the U.S. a week before "Raise Your Voice"; the songs featured are "Fly", "Someone's Watching over Me" and "Jericho".

"Raise Your Voice" was the first live-action film to air on The CW, having aired on Thanksgiving Day 2007.

Plot

Terri Fletcher loves to sing. Her older brother, Paul, is her best friend and inspiration. Her father, though supportive, believes there are more important things in life than singing. Terri buys tickets for both her brother and her to see the Canadian band Three Days Grace in concert one night, but Paul is grounded and is unable to go. Terri insists that they should have one last night of fun before Paul goes to college, and they sneak out. On the way back, as Paul is driving them home, they are involved in a major car crash which leaves Terri injured and Paul dead. Throughout the whole film, Terri feels guilty because she blames herself for Paul's death. In an enormous state of sadness and grief due to her guilt, she gives up her scholarship and her dream of going to a popular Los Angeles music school. Johnny Maglone (Nick Wald) shows the true meaning of music in the opening sequence of the film where he plays "Amazing Grace" on the recorder in perfect rhythm.

Later, Terri has a change of heart after realizing that Paul would have wanted her to go, as he was the one who made her admissions tape. Her father stubbornly forbids her from attending the school. However, her mother decides otherwise, wanting the best for her only child remaining. Mrs Fletcher thus sends Terri off to Los Angeles to achieve her dreams. Her father is kept in the dark as Terri leaves under the pretext of going on vacation to stay with her Aunt Nina. While going to Bristol-Hillman Conservatory, Terri experiences difficulty fitting in. Later, she strikes up a friendship with fellow student Jay Corgan (played by Oliver James), an English boy who has a mutual crush on her. The two eventually begin to date, causing Jay's ex-girlfriend, Robin, to become jealous. She tries to win Jay back by kissing him, and the two are discovered by Terri, who runs out in tears. Both then attempt to work separately, but have difficulty trying to finish the song they were writing together. After Jay gets drunk over Terri, the two sort things out, and decide to continue writing the song together. In the end, Terri overcomes her grief, singing a farewell to her brother in "Someone's Watching Over Me", a song she composes with Jay. Denise, Terri's friend, is the winner of the scholarship, which is a pleasant surprise for everyone as Denise needed the money the most. As the end credits roll, Terri sings "Jericho".

Cast

* Hilary Duff — Theresa "Terri" Fletcher
* Oliver James — Jay Corgan
* David Keith — Simon Fletcher
* Dana Davis — Denise Gilmore
* Johnny Lewis — Englebert 'Kiwi' Wilson
* Rita Wilson — Frances Fletcher
* Lauren C. Mayhew — Robin Childers
* Kat Dennings — Sloane
* Jason Ritter — Paul Fletcher
* Rebecca De Mornay — Aunt Nina
* John Corbett — Mr. Torvald
* Carly Reeves — Kelly
* James Avery — Mr. Gantry
* Robert Trebor — Mr. Wesson
* Steven 'T7' Palmer — Street drummer
* Davida Williams — Lauren
* Marshall Manesh — Cabbie
* Gibby Brand — Mr. Holcomb
* Sean Patrick McNamara — Doctor Mark Farley
* Fred Meyers — Matthew
* Mitch Rotter — Folk Singer
* Three Days Grace (Adam Gontier, Barry Stock, Brad Walst and Neil Sanderson) — special guest appearance as themselves

Reception

The movie received mostly negative critics, receiving only 33% of approval by Metacritic and achieving a 16% (rotten) rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Comcast Cable has given this a one out of four stars.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the film was never released, with the songs "Fly", "Someone's Watching Over Me" and "Jericho", originals for it, being released at Hilary's homonym album.

References

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External links

* [http://www.raiseyourvoicemovie.com Official site]
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*rotten-tomatoes|id=raise_your_voice|title=Raise Your Voice
* [http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/raiseyourvoice "Raise Your Voice"] at Metacritic