Undiscovered (DVD)

When I was looking through the films on Sky and saw a film featuring Ashlee Simpson I knew I had to record it. I never knew she acted in anything and was intrigued to see if she and the film were any good. As someone who has reasonably recently discovered her music I wanted to see if any of her songs I knew featured in the film. A quick look on IMDb.com told me that unsurprisingly 'Undiscovered' a song from 'Autobiography' was in it and a couple of other songs were included which I hadn't heard of before. I also learnt that the film had a lot of negative reviews and Simpson was even nominated for a Razzie for Worst Supporting Actress. Even after knowing this I still wanted to watch it out of curiosity more than anything.

Brier (Pell James) is a model who moves from New York to L.A. to try out acting. Her boyfriend Mick is a rock star and has repeatedly cheated on her and she knows this. After moving to L.A. she meets Clea (Ashlee Simpson) in an acting class. Through her she meets Luke (Steven Strait) whilst he is performing at a local club. They recognise each other from a chance meeting in New York a couple of years previously. Back then Luke was completely smitten (his words) with her and Brier seemed to like him as well. It was only a brief meeting on the underground in which they never even spoke. Now they get to talk with a possibility of their being a spark between them.

Luke is an aspiring artist who is desperately trying to make it in the music industry. It's a cutthroat world and when Clea is teasing Brier on a possible romance between her and Luke she changes the subject. She has an idea to help Luke get the attention she thinks Luke deserves. Will her plan work? Will Luke become famous on his own terms? And will Luke and Brier fall in love?

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Although the plot sounds like it's a love story it's primarily about the struggle Luke has rising to fame. At first I thought it was going to be a typical chick flick which put me off a little as I don't usually watch them. These worries were soon quashed when I realised that it wasn't going to be all fluffy and two people flirting and then falling in love. For a start the characters seem to have a little more depth. When Luke realises that Brier is the girl her stopped on the underground he remains cool and doesn't make a fool of himself. You can tell that he does really like her. He tries his best to convince her to go out on a date with him she gives him the brush off. It's not that she doesn't like him but she still considers herself attached and doesn't want to have another relationship with a musician after the way she's been treated.

Their relationship is one of the major themes throughout the film. Without revealing anything about it I actually found this part of the plot boring and in places really slow. Being used to action films part of me kept wishing something more dramatic would happen. Sadly it didn't and there were times I could have easily switched it off and not wonders what happened. I know I said earlier that the characters seemed to have more depth to them. I thought this at the beginning and then as the film goes on I just thought how they came across a bit boring. The script lets them down and although they come across as realistic (rather than fake annoying people) they just didn't keep my interest.

On a brighter note the acting wasn't all that bad considering the weak plot and script. Whilst I'd say no one really stood out for fantastic acting no one was really that bad. Pell James is very watchable and plays Brier really well. Steven Strait actually left his band Tribe (anyone heard of them?) to pursue his acting career. If he gets to sing in most his films like her does in 'Undiscovered' then he is really getting the best of both worlds. He just needs to make sure he picks better films in the future and he could find himself getting more recognition.

Ashlee Simpson has received a lot of negative criticism for her acting but I actually enjoyed watching her. In fact, I thought her character was really underused and thought it was a shame she never got more time on the screen. Clea is there merely to introduce Brier to Luke and then throughout the film she tries to convince Brier to go for it. Carrie Fisher plays Carrie who is Briers agent and confidant. Although she acts well she is another character I thought was under developed. Right at the beginning of the film Carrie and Brier make a reference to Brier's mother and the viewer doesn't get the full story. It was only a brief mention, which could be missed, but Brier isn't really just a client to her and there is almost a hint that they've known each other for years.

Kip Pardue plays Euan, Luke's older brother who you'd actually think was younger. Whilst Luke is serious and thinks about things Euan likes to have fun. His 70s tribute band shows this and it's very amusing when they perform 'Jungle Love'. There are also some good performances from some of the smaller roles. Fisher Stevens (the guy with the funny voice in Short Circuit) plays a manager of a record company with an interest in Luke. I can't say more about his role but his acting was convincing and I knew I'd seen him in something before but throughout the film I couldn't work it out. Peter Weller (RoboCop) also makes an appearance at the end of the film. I thought his performance was a little wooden but having not seen him in anything else I don't know if this is typical of him. One of the most disappointing performances came from Shannyn Sossamon (A Knights Tale, 40 Days and 40 Nights), she plays a Brazilian and her accent wasn't really that impressive.

The singing in the film is part of the story line rather than being in the background. Watching Ashlee Simpson perform 'Undiscovered' has made me like the song even more than I did before. She also sings 'That's Why I Love You' which in context of the film really works. She sings a duet 'Smart In A Stupid Way' with Steven Strait as well, which I enjoyed as their voices worked well together. This is all she actually sings which I was a little disappointed about as I thought she'd do more. Steven Strait performs the rest of the songs in character as Luke. Seeing as Luke is the focus of the film this comes as no huge surprise. He has in fact seven songs including the duet he does with Ashlee Simpson. Straits songs are mainly rock ballads I guess but he has some livelier ones too. For some reason his style reminds me of 'The Calling' and their song 'Wherever You Go'. As it's not a genre I'm really into I was surprised that I actually enjoyed them as much as I did. For me it was the music that makes this film. If you took it away then it wouldn't be watching at all.

As I mentioned earlier the plot isn't all that gripping. Maybe I'm being too critical as I'm not normally a fan of these types of films. I'm sure I'm not the only one to notice that there are places they could have expanded on or changed things to help make the plot more interesting. For example, what happened to Brier's Mum? This could have been tackled right at the beginning of the film when it's mentioned. Plus Luke and Euan mention their father in passing and again that makes you wonder. I don't think this was done deliberately to create mystery either! The other major question I had throughout the film was why Brier moved to L.A. in the first place. At the beginning she has a modelling career which doesn't seem that bad. It's just her love life, which is in need of help. Once Brier meets Luke in L.A. the filmmakers seem to forget that she moved there to act and it isn't mentioned again. I know films sometimes do this but I found this annoying as I kept expecting something to happen there. Also I thought it was unrealistic that they would meet in New York and then happen to bump into each other in L.A.

To end on a positive note I need to mention Luke's skateboarding dog! He and the music are really the main reason anyone should watch this film. If you like films with a possible unravelling romance then you'll possibly enjoy it more than me. If you like the sound of the music then I suggest you look on somewhere like You Tube for a couple of the songs. If you like them by all means give the film a go but just don't blame me if you hate it more than I did! I'd certainly not suggest buying the DVD or even renting it. Just look out for it on TV as I saw it on Sky and I'm sure they'll repeat it soon. I'd also like to point out there is no use in buying the soundtrack if you like Ashlee Simpson as someone else sings her songs for some strange reason.