Raise Your Voice (2004)

User Rating:

5.1/10   

Director:

Sean McNamara

Writers (WGA):

Mitch Rotter (story)
Sam Schreiber (screenplay)

Release Date:

8 October 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Music | Romance

Tagline:

Don't give up. Don't hold back. (Australia DVD)

Plot:

A girl from a small town heads to the big city of Los Angeles to spend the summer at a performing arts high school.

Plot Keywords:

Small Town | Performing Arts | Stage Fright | Scholarship | Coming Of Age

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Hilary Duff	...	Teresa 'Terri' Fletcher
Oliver James	...	Jay Corgan
David Keith	...	Simon Fletcher
Dana Davis	...	Denise Gilmore
Johnny Lewis	...	Engelbert 'Kiwi' Wilson
Rita Wilson	...	Francis Fletcher
Lauren C. Mayhew	...	Robin Childers
Kat Dennings	...	Sloane
Jason Ritter	...	Paul Fletcher
Rebecca De Mornay	...	Aunt Nina
John Corbett	...	Mr. Torvald
Carly Reeves	...	Kelly
James Avery	...	Mr. Gantry
Robert Trebor	...	Mr. Wesson
Steven T. Palmer	...	Street Drummer (as Steven '17' Palmer)
Davida Williams	...	Lauren
Marshall Manesh	...	Cabbie
Gibby Brand	...	Mr. Holcomb
Sean McNamara	...	Doctor Mark Farley (as Sean Patrick McNamara)
Fred Meyers	...	Matthew
Mitch Rotter	...	Folk Singer
Seis Cuerdas	...	Flamenco Guitarists
John Gipson	...	Saxophone Player
T.J. Thyne	...	Emcee
Adam Gontier	...	Three Days Grace
Neil Sanderson	...	Three Days Grace
Brad Walst	...	Three Days Grace
Barry Stock	...	Three Days Grace
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Shauney Baby	...	Drummer (uncredited)
Steven Gridley	...	Cello Player (uncredited)
Portis Hershey	...	Piano Player (uncredited)
Josh Kuhn	...	Bacon Flip (uncredited)
Michael Marchand	...	Choir Boy (uncredited)
Christopher Mauldin	...	School Choir Drummer (uncredited)
Raquel C. Rischard	...	Rosie (uncredited)
Lindsay Roth	...	Violinist (uncredited)

Directed by
Sean McNamara

Writing credits (WGA)
Mitch Rotter		(story)
Sam Schreiber		(screenplay)

Produced by
David Brookwell	....	producer
A.J. Dix	....	producer
Toby Emmerich	....	executive producer
Brad Jensen	....	co-producer
Avram 'Butch' Kaplan	....	executive producer
Mark Kaufman	....	executive producer
Christina Lambert	....	co-producer
Todd Lewis	....	co-producer
Sean McNamara	....	producer
Matt Moore	....	executive producer
Anthony Rhulen	....	producer
Sara Risher	....	producer
Troy Rowland	....	associate producer
William Shively	....	producer
Matthew A. Thomas	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Machine Head
Aaron Zigman

Cinematography by
John R. Leonetti

Film Editing by
Jeff Canavan

Casting by
Joey Paul

Production Design by
Joseph T. Garrity

Art Direction by
Gary Myers

Set Decoration by
Melissa M. Levander

Costume Design by
Aggie Guerard Rodgers

Makeup Department
Lydia Milars	....	makeup department head
Ned Neidhardt	....	additional makeup artist
Gloria Ponce	....	additional hair stylist
Toni-Ann Walker	....	hair department head (as Toni Walker)
Nacoma Whobrey	....	makeup artist
Joy Zapata	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Avram 'Butch' Kaplan	....	unit production manager
Todd Lewis	....	post-production supervisor
Todd Lewis	....	production supervisor
Richard Stirling	....	executive in charge of production
Richard Stirling	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
David Brookwell	....	second unit director
Hope Garrison	....	second assistant director
Jeffrey F. January	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Maureen Farley	....	property master
Eric Steinway	....	set dresser
Isabelle Trichard	....	art department coordinator

Sound Department
Julie Altus	....	adr recordist
Bob Bowman	....	first assistant sound editor
Zack Davis	....	co-supervising sound editor
Marc Fishman	....	sound re-recording mixer
Tony Lamberti	....	sound re-recording mixer
Kevin Maloney	....	boom operator
Carey Milbradt	....	foley editor
Carey Milbradt	....	foley mixer
Monique Reymond	....	foley artist
Geoffrey G. Rubay	....	supervising sound editor
Christopher Sposa	....	sound utility
Tami Treadwell	....	adr recordist
Ed White	....	sound mixer
David Williams	....	dialogue editor

Special Effects by
Charles Cooley	....	special effects technician
J.D. Streett	....	special effects supervisor

Visual Effects by
Victor DiMichina	....	visual effects coordinator
David Emerson	....	optical and digital line-up
Alfredo Ramirez	....	digital compositor

Stunts
Stanton Barrett	....	stunts
Larry Nicholas	....	stunt coordinator
J.P. Romano	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Alejandro J. Castillo	....	lighting technician
Trey Clinesmith	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Egor Davidoff	....	second assistant camera
Daryl Didier	....	electrician
Jeffrey M. Hall	....	gaffer
Jerry L. Marshall	....	grip
T. Daniel Scaringi	....	best boy grip
Christian Sebaldt	....	director of photography: additional photography
Stephen J. Ullman	....	camera operator

Casting Department
Sherry Aude	....	background casting
Erica Berger	....	casting intern
Dana Gergely	....	casting assistant
Caitlin McKenna-Wilkinson	....	adr voice casting
Niner Parikh	....	casting associate
Kathryn Taylor	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Jordanna Fineberg	....	assistant costume designer
Anthony Franco	....	costume supervisor
Terri Middleton	....	costumer
Marta Villalobos	....	wardrobe assistant

Editorial Department
Teresa Garber	....	post-production executive
Mato	....	color timer
Anna Solorio-Catalano	....	assistant editor
Dennis Thorlaksen	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Hilary Duff	....	music crew
Paul Hepker	....	music arranger: vocals
Jessica Huebner	....	technical advisor: musical instruments
Jeff Lingle	....	music editor
Michael T. Ryan	....	supervising music editor
H. Scott Salinas	....	composer: additional score
Kip Smedley	....	music engineer
Michael Stern	....	scoring mixer

Transportation Department
Rod Bearden	....	transportation coordinator
J. Armin Garza II	....	driver: camera car
Harold L. Woods	....	driver generator operator

Other crew
Carlos A. Aragon	....	assistant location manager
Laura Breakey	....	production assistant
Curtis Collins	....	location manager
André Devantier	....	caterer
Joe Dornich	....	set production assistant
Lee Ebersole	....	set production assistant
Melinda Garrett	....	development intern
Kristin Gomez	....	second assistant accountant
AnaMarie C. Gonzaga	....	production accountant
Shannon Hamed	....	production coordinator
Derek Hurd	....	key craft service
Natalie Kavanagh	....	intern production assistant
Josh Kuhn	....	key craft service
Amanda Ladd	....	payroll accountant
Michael Marcus	....	production assistant
David Nico	....	assistant production coordinator
John M. Pisani	....	unit publicist
Matt Rawls	....	set production assistant
Troy Rowland	....	dialect coach: Ms. Duff
Nicholas Rufca	....	production secretary
Pavel Sterba	....	key assistant location manager
Andrea Terrill	....	stand-in
Mark Van Horne	....	laboratory contact
Catherine Petra Villalobos	....	production assistant
LouAnn Wu	....	set production assistant
Danielle Bryce	....	production assistant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Brookwell-McNamara Entertainment
• ChickFlick Productions
• FilmEngine

Distributors

• New Line Cinema (2004) (USA) (theatrical)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Eagle Pictures (2005) (Italy) (all media)
• Hoyts Distribution (2004) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Imagem Filmes (2006) (Brazil) (VHS) (DVD)
• Moonlight Films (2004) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Nelonen (2007) (Finland) (TV)
• Palace Pictures (2006) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Pioneer Films (2004) (Philippines) (theatrical)
• Prorom Media-Trade (2004) (Romania) (all media)
• Prorom Media-Trade (2005) (Romania) (all media)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2005) (Finland) (DVD)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2005) (Finland) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Pixel Magic (visual effects)
• Digital Filmworks (additional visual effects)
• Pacific Title (opticals)

Other Companies

• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera cranes
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera dollies
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  remote camera systems
• Designer Wardrobe Trailers  wardrobe trailer
• Hollywood Caterers  catering

Also Known As:

Heart of Summer (Australia) (working title)
Untitled Christian Music Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic elements and language.

Runtime:

USA:103 min | Argentina:103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Brazil:Livre | Argentina:Atp | Peru:PT | Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-7 | Netherlands:MG6 | Philippines:G | Singapore:PG | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Flagstaff, Arizona, USA

Company:

Brookwell-McNamara Entertainment

Trivia:

Evan Rachel Wood and Jonathan Jackson were the original choices for the roles of Terri and Jay respectively, but both dropped out due to production changes, as did Annie Potts (who was set to play Terri's mother) and director James Hayman. The story's location was then changed from New York City to Los Angeles.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Terri is talking to her aunt after the graduation party, the wire from her microphone is seen hanging out of her tracksuit jacket when she sits down on the picninc table.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Mr. Holcomb: Have a very pleasant Summer everyone. Miss Fletcher, rehearsal tomorrow at four.

Movie Connections:

References Jason X (2001)

Soundtrack:

Lose Control

Tragically Predictable

In my review of "Cheaper by the Dozen"(2003), I mentioned the difficulty Hilary Duff is going to have breaking away from typecasting as Lizzie McGuire. The fact that this movie was a Brookwell/McNamara Production, a staple of the cable network that made her famous may be another obstacle from that typecasting. Make no mistake though -- Hilary Duff *IS* a talented actress and singer(in spite of corporate punk pretensions), and even with this formulaic material she proves it. But the way things are looking now, she couldn't break out of the Disney universe if she did hardcore pornography.

Terri Fletcher(Duff) sings in a local church chorus, and for her own personal enjoyment. She also thinks her singing can make her a star, and so does her brother Paul(Jason Ritter) who secretly recommends her for a scholarship to a school for the performing arts in Los Angeles. But her father(David Keith) wants her to stay at home and wait tables at the family diner. After she and her brother sneak out to go to a concert one night, some drunk driver plows into them on the way home. Her brother dies, she survives and is left with crippling flashbacks and survivor's guilt. But just when she thinks she's going to have to spend the rest of her life at the bottom of the barrel, along comes that scholarship to the performing arts school she didn't even know she entered. Of course, the only reason she doesn't want to go is because she's afraid to face the wrath of Dad, so Mom(Rita Wilson) and Aunt Nina(Rebecca De Mornay) tell Daddy she's going to spend time with her aunt, while smuggling her off to that school. And the rest of the movie involves Terri trying to make friends in the big city, cover-up her lie to her father, and deal with her own fear of bright lights, courtesy of that random drunk driver.

Too much about this movie is predicable; The overbearing father, sympathetic avant-garde artistic aunt, the tragic car wreck, the boyfriend with an ex-girlfriend who won't let go(who Terri catches putting the moves on and thinks is unfaithful to her), and yes even the triumphant concert at the end. Having said all that, I must reiterate that I don't want my criticism of this movie to be interpreted as another Duff-bashing tirade. Because regardless of the cookie-cutter plot line, Duff is still outstanding. Yes, she's a better actress than a singer, but both of these aspects of her are far superior to the movie. And if you DON'T believe she can play anyone else but Lizzie McGuire, you should've seen her in a highly publicized episode of Joan of Arcadia from the Spring of 2005. So while it's nowhere near the fluff-piece that her first big series was, it makes you wish there were more parts out there that are better for her.