Brave New Girl (2004) Reviews

• The glass is half full with "Brave New Girl."

  Screen-72006-01-16

  Yes, the plot is predictable; yes, there are a few plot holes; yes, it has a made-for-TV quality; and yes, Britney Spears "wrote" the book with obvious self-promotion. But forget all of that... this movie is fun. Fun in an After School Special sort-of-way, but fun nevertheless. Virginia Madsen as the mother does a great job... so good that I'm going to start watching for her movies. She reminded me of Diane Lane for all the good reasons. The rest of the cast does a fine job, too. If I was a casting agent, I'd be scouting some of these young actors. The production values are above usual TV standards and the music was really great... better than several big-budget movies I've seen. If you're in the mood for German noir this movie isn't for you. If you want a safe, fun and underrated movie, this is a good one. It's one you could show to your 10 year old daughter but enjoy it yourself too.

• Don't try this at home (it won't work)!

  AnnOnymous2005-07-07

  Being a music student myself, I thought a movie taking place in a conservatory might be fun to watch. Little did I know... (I had no idea this movie was based on a book by Britney Spears) This movie was implausible throughout. It's obvious that whoever wrote the script never set foot in a conservatory and doesn't know a thing about classical music. Let me give you just a few examples: 1) There is NO WAY anyone would be admitted to a classical conservatory with no classical training whatsoever! Just having a nice pop voice isn't enough, besides, that's a different thing altogether - another genre, different technique. It's like playing the violin when applying for a viola class. 2) How come the lady teaching music theory was in the singing jury? If she wasn't a singing professor herself, she would have no say in a situation like that, and if she was a singing professor, why weren't we told so? 3) Being able to read music is a necessity if you're to major in music. 4) How did Angela get a hold of that video tape? That would have been kept confidential, for the jury's eyes only. Now either she got the tape from one of the professors or the script writers just didn't have a clue. I wonder which... 5) The singing professor gave Holly the Carmen song saying she "had the range", which she clearly did NOT. Yes, she was able to sing the notes, but Carmen is a mezzo-soprano, while Holly's voice seemed to be much lighter in timbre, not at all compatible with that song. 6) Worst of all: Not only does the movie show a shocking ignorance when it comes to classical music, but it doesn't even try to hide it. The aria that Angela sings is mutilated beyond recognition, a fact which is painfully blatant at the recital, where it is cut short in a disgraceful way - Mozart would roll over in his grave. The Habanera from Carmen sounded a bit weird at times, too, and the way it was rearranged at the end just shows how little the producers really think of classical music - it's stiff and boring but hey, add some drums and electric guitars and it's almost as good as Britney Spears! I know these are all minor details, but it would have been so easy to avoid them with just a little research. Anyhow, I might have chosen to suspend my disbelief had the characters and the plot been well elaborated. But without that, I really can't find any redeeming qualities in this movie except for one: it's good for a laugh.

• Not perfect but good

  purple_mm_froggie2004-06-20

  People like to complain about TV movies a lot. I have one question. Is there ever a TV movie that is perfect? Anyway, I find that the movie was good. Considering that I am not a Britney Spears fan and the fact that there was a lot of Britney in it, I thought I was going to hate the movie, but I actually enjoyed it. Though, at some points things seemed to be repeating themselves and it got to be a bit long, there was just something there that was good and made me watch it to the end. This movie isn't for everybody. If you can't stand pop or classical music, don't watch. If you can't stand some predictable moments don't watch. But if you want to watch a movie that has an uplifting feeling and lets people know that everyone can do whatever they want to in life, a real good family movie, this is it.

• Incredibly Insulting

  troubleclef12232004-09-25

  Wow. I am really really disgusted at this movie. Not only is it so tacky, unoriginal, poorly acted, poorly directed, and over-advertised, it also teaches little girls everywhere that they can go up on stage and sing tacky out-of-date pop songs, send in a tape and get into a CLASSICAL music conservatory among some of the worlds finest and most hard-working musicians. The people that get into those conservatories work their ASSES off trying to perfect their style, and especially in the vocal category, it takes even more hard work and dedication. It is even more insulting later on to see her sitting there not even able to read music. READING MUSIC IS A NECESSITY WHEN YOU WANT TO BE A MUSICIAN!!! period. End of story. You cannot expect to be a music major without being able to read music. If you can sing your favorite pop song after listening to it 20 times over again, somewhat in tune, this does not mean you are talented. It does not mean you belong in a music conservatory. It doesn't even mean you belong in choir. It means you should try out your local karaoke bar. Its enough of a problem to have these blonde bimbos making HIGH-SCHOOL choirs sound like crap, but to put out a movie like this encouraging them that they can major in music with such mediocre abilities is degrating, and insulting to anyone who's worked hard at what they do. This is not a brave new girl, this is a talentless idiot who belongs in beauty school across the street from the music conservatory. I really wish I could sue someone over this, it makes me that mad. I give this 0 stars out of 10. Don't even see it. Don't support such insulting behavior.

• kinda "as if" but beautiful none the less

  angelic_innocence0192004-11-16

  i think i will give this 1 out of 10..because the only thing i really liked in it was the end song..i mean..altho it has a great message for younger girls..you know.."you can do any thing you set your mind to" or whatever..i agree with the person giving the first comment..not saying that others don't work hard for other types of music but i highly doubt you can get into a classical music conservatory singing "a yellow rose of Texas" . and you can't even pass high school choir with out being able to read notes..and is it just me or was miss.spears mentioned just a few to many times hehe. the set up kind of looked like a armature movie maker made it too..however the actors and actresses were wonderful and i absolutely LOVE the song at the end...i bought the movie just for the song lol