Material Girls

Released: 08/17/06

Viewed: 4:00pm 08/17/06

Starring: Hillary Duff, Haylie Duff, Anjelica Huston, Maria Conchita Alonso, Brent Spiner, Lukas Haas

Directed by: Martha Coolidge

MGM Official Site of the movie

Is Material Girls a kids movie? I was pretty surprised walking into the 4 PM showing and finding the room half filled with kids under 10. As a 28 year old man, dressed pretty much like a homeless person, wearing a knit cap in the dead of summer, looking for a seat in a child filled theater, for a movie starring recently graduated jailbait, I couldn’t have felt creepier. I do this for you guys.

Looking back I knew it would be a kids movie on some level, but I think I expected more teens and less really young kids. Obviously they are the last remains of the fans still hanging on to star Hilary Duff’s Disney past. Duff, of course was the lead of the hit television series Lizzie McGuire, which played directly to the tween crowd and earned her a legion of Mary Kate and Ashley hand me down fans.

Since, Hilary seems to be cautious not to alienate these fans as she churns out one family friendly romp after another. All of it has been formulaic and safe, there’s very much a “don’t rock the boat� attitude to it all, and I can understand that. Hilary Duff is a brand. She has a movie career, a music career, a clothing line, and a fragrance that all hinge on that legion of fans desperate to be just like her. If she takes a role as drugged out hooker then the new back to school collection’s sales will plummet. If she dates anyone more “rock and roll� then her current boyfriend, the lead singer of the eye-lined power pop group Good Charolette, then no one’s getting the new Hilary Duff album for their birthday this year! It’s strictly business. So how seriously should I take this movie if all it is, is a cross-promotional tool?

Well, seriously enough I guess because I like Hilary. I think she’s funny and cute and that she has the capability of being more than the face of an industry. I had hopes that Material Girls would be a good turning point. The title alone offers up a real opportunity for some laugh out loud irony. Material Girls had some Mean Girls potential to it if you ask me, but unfortunately in terms of relevance and hipness, it’s more on par with the Golden Girls. (Don’t send hate mail, I love the Golden Girls, but they’re not exactly “cutting edge�.)

Material Girls stars Hilary and real life sister Haylie, as rich socialites who lose everything after a scandal is revealed in their cosmetics company. I won’t go into details because I don’t want to spoil it (relive it), but needless to say the girls are innocent and they set out to prove that innocence through a series of comical situations involving them being posh princesses in the real world. It’s cute and harmless fish out of water fun, but it’s far from being entertaining or funny. The pieces of the puzzle all fit together, but not in a clever or unique way. You get the feeling throughout that the plot wasn’t so much an original idea that needed to be committed to film, but more a story pasted together based on the fact that this was the Madonna song they could get the rights to rerecord for the soundtrack. Why can’t they make movies based on ACDC songs. I’d pay to see Back in Black starring Hilary Duff. But I paid to see Material Girls, so there you go.

The plot overall didn’t do much for me, but there were moments where a dim light of interest was flipped on inside my head. At one point they decide to investigate their company themselves instead of hiring an investigator they can’t afford. There was potential for some campy private eye fun that they explore a little but not enough in my opinion. There was something there, and they dropped it too fast. At on point Hilary does an Erin Brockovich impression as she seduces her way into an office. That was pretty hot but how creepy it makes you feel isn’t worth the trip. Does it bother me that she was born in 1987? Sure, it bothers me a lot, but what can you do?

The girls were both pretty good even if some of the dialogue was over the top and over acted. I haven’t seen Haylie in anything besides Napoleon Dynamite and she does hold her own here, but the worst way to get out from your sisters shadow is to do a movie with her.

The supporting cast is fine. It was nice to see Brent Spiner (Data from Star Trek) who seems totally suited to his father figure role here, but I was completely shocked to see Anjelica Huston and Lukas Haas pop up. Yeo pointed out to me that Huston randomly does the dumbed down family friendly pictures every now and again, to which I replied “Daddy Day Care is far from fluff.� I can’t imagine why Haas is in this movie though. I guess Brick, the brilliant high school mystery he did earlier this year where he plays a kingpin, was too awesome and he had to scale it back a little. It was just weird seeing them both… I’m going to watch Daddy Day Care this week.

I can’t in good faith recommend this movie, though it doesn’t seem like any glowing recommendation would make a difference as Material Girls barley broke the top 10 taking in a sad 4.6 million its opening weekend. Little Miss Sunshine even bested it and on a third of the screens. All the little girls are still freaking out over Step Up I guess. Maybe it’s time for Hilary to check out all those drugged up hooker roles, because the fan base is growing up and no one in college wears Duff jeans. Maybe as a joke or for Halloween or something but certainly not casually. Rating: 3 out of 10

It was a flat and tired ride going nowhere. The girls are hot, the guys are cute, and they’re all desperate to come off ultra cool. To me it’s a slap in the face to the young generation on how easily they’re manipulated. At least Step Up has dancing. Everyone loves dancing.

DVD Worthy?:

Um, no. Not even rental worthy. Sometimes Yeo will get the inkling that she wants to rent a bunch of movies like this and make a real Sunday afternoon out of it. Normally I’ll humor her, rent whatever Hillary Duff/Kate Hudson/Brittney Murphy/John Corbett disaster of a romantic comedy is out that week and watch it with her. I just don’t see that happening with Material Girls.

If You liked this movie check out: White Chicks

It’s the same socialite characters in a script filled with fart jokes and crude innuendo, and sure that’s a little gross, but at least I was laughing.

Trailer Hitch: Open Season

Months ago when the teasers for Open Season first started popping up before whatever animated movies were poisoning America last winter, I thought it looked like fun. A domesticated bear, voiced by Martin Laurence, being enticed into the wild by a hyperactive deer, voiced by Ashton Kutcher, was interesting enough to make me take notice. Seeing the full trailer today was depressing as it turns out the film is just another man vs. nature story. It’s Over the Hedge, it’s The Ant Bully, it’s the same damn thing over and over again.

Never underestimate Kutcher’s draw though. As long as Season isn’t surrounded in an animation block like we saw at the end of July, it could do some serious damage.

Non Movie Related News

I’m a little bummed out that Snakes on a Plane couldn’t bag the number one spot this weekend. IT took in a solid 13 million but wasn’t able to dethrone Will Ferrell’s NASCAR comedy Talladega Nights. I’m thrilled that Talladega Nights is getting some well deserved attention and accolades for a third week, but Snakes was really good. I got dozens of people telling me how much they enjoyed it. Unfortunately more than a few also commented on how sparse the crowds were. The hype machine peaked to early and everyone got tired of waiting. What a shame because for a change – the movie actually lived up to the hype.

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