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All-Reviews.com Movie/Video Review
Chasing Liberty
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 out of 4
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Starring: Mandy Moore, Matthew Goode Director: Andy Cadiff
Rated: PG-13 RunTime: 111 Minutes Release Date: January 2004 Genres: Comedy, Romance |
 Review by Susan Granger 1½ stars out of 4
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As the first teen comedy of 2004, "Chasing Liberty" is not that bad; it's
also not that good either. Evoking the spirit, if not the soul, of "Roman
Holiday," it's the story of a reckless runaway U.S. President's daughter, Anna
(Mandy Moore), whose Secret Service code name is Liberty.
This whiny, spoiled 18 year-old is fed up with the surveillance pros who
scare off her potential suitors. So when Anna sees a chance to escape from her
dogged agents (Jeremy Piven, Annabella Sciorra) on a pre-college trip to
Prague, she hops on the back of a Vespa driven by a handsome hunk, Matthew
Goode (Ben Calder). She doesn't know that he's a Brit working for the Treasury
Dept., but he's well aware that she's a First Daughter who needs a protective
escort. Not surprisingly, they fall in love en route to the Love Parade
techno-gig in Berlin. It's a predictable sit-com formula, including the
romantic inclinations of Anna's squabbling security detail.
First-time screenwriters Derek Guiley and David Schneiderman litter the
derivative script with clich‚s and fail to create any real jeopardy, so there's
no suspense or emotional growth in Anna's photogenic flight as captured by
cinematographer Ashley Rowe. Director Andy Cadiff ("Leave It to Beaver") allows
the potentially comedic sequences to drag on too long and, not surprisingly,
the climax is lifted from "The Bodyguard." Yet songbird Mandy Moore exhibits an
on-screen charisma that many of her cohorts, particularly Britney Spears, so
far seem to lack. Mark Harmon and Caroline Goodall score as Anna's quarreling
parents and Beatrice Rosen as her French pal. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1
to 10, "Chasing Liberty" is a featherweight 4 that's specifically aimed at
tweens. For the real thing, rent William Wyler's "Roman Holiday."
Copyright © 2004 Susan Granger
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