19 May 2005 19:27 pm
For some reason this movie went in with a bad reputation. It seemed to be, or at least I thought it was seen as a movie like Crossroads or a similar title in which a pop star / actor / etc was starring in their big screen debut because they bought there way in (this isn’t an attack on Britney, many people do it).
But why should it be? After all the Olsen twins are serious actors, they have been since they were little and they are very popular so why would it be a shock if they made a good movie? Still then the movie came out and the critics hated it.
I think is down to expectations though. Just because this was their big screen debut doesn’t mean the twins style was going to change – hey people, it turns out they don’t make serious adult movies, they make content for kids and teenagers.
As the movie opens, you wonder what to expect. Will it just be some kind of real life loony toons adventure, a serious drama, there is little known. And when you first witness Roxy (Mary-Kate Olsen) strutting her martial arts against a guy who is putting on a bad Chinese accent you start to question what you are watching.
You have to move past this though. The way the critics were writing about the movie, they seemed to be expecting (as they review almost everything) with the expectation that it was going to redefine the genre like Psycho and Saving Private Ryan. The sooner you accept it’s a kid’s movie the sooner you can enjoy it.
It stereotypes and indeed uses stereotypical storylines. The movie opens with two very different sisters. The first as I have already mentioned is Roxy who is the truanting rock chick sister. Contrasting her is Jane Ryan (Ashley Olsen) whose day planner organises her entire life. And you can bet that by the end of the film they will have realised how much they miss each other.
It’s amusing though – for instance comments such as “that man who thinks he’s Chinese – but your not” and “We’ve never been in a car chase before”, “no sir, not one” (the latter coming from what I am guessing as Southerners though I’m not exactly familiar with the finer points of American stereotypes) show the movie is not oblivious to it’s over-characterisation.
The film is much brightened by Eugene Levy (letter known as Jim’s dad in American Pie) who takes on the roll of the truant officer trying to catch Roxy. Be brings the same amusing antics that he brings to all his roles. That said, I have only seen him in this and American Pie ;).
The plot follows them through the day as Jane attempts to make it to Columbia in time to give a speech in order to win a scholarship to Oxford. Luckily the day doesn’t go that smoothly as that would provide a really boring movie. As it happens they end up everywhere from inside a water main to on the stage at a Simple Plan video shoot.
Of course it produces a happy ending but seriously, when would a film ever be made in this genre by Hollywood that wouldn’t? New York Minute is limited in appeal to adults and a giant walking target for media students and critics but if you can wipe that from your mind it makes an enjoyable and entertaining Saturday afternoon watch.
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