Blonde Ambition (2007)

User Rating:

3.5/10   

Director:

Scott Marshall

Writers (WGA):

David McHugh (screenplay) &
Matthew Flanagan (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

10 January 2008 (Russia)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Small-town girl. Big-time dreams.

Plot:

A young professional woman (Simpson) unwittingly becomes the pawn of two business executives in their bid to oust the head of a mega-conglomerate. |

Plot Keywords:

Business | Clumsiness | Karaoke | Scooter | Surprise Visit

Cast

Jessica Simpson	...	Katie
Luke Wilson	...	Ben
Rachael Leigh Cook	...	Haley
Penelope Ann Miller	...	Debra
Andy Dick	...	Freddy
Drew Fuller	...	Billy
Larry Miller	...	Ronald Connelly
Willie Nelson	...	Pap Paw
Piper Mackenzie Harris	...	Amber Perry (as Piper Harris)
Ritchie Montgomery	...	Mr. Carruthers
Niki Spiridakos	...	Nikolina (as Nikki Spiridakos)
Karen McClain	...	Betty
Bill Jenkins	...	Mr. Perry
Paul Vogt	...	Floyd
Drew Waters	...	Stripper Cop #1
Edrick Browne	...	Stripper Cop #2
Ryan Dunn	...	Griswold
Julius Washington	...	Lobby Security
Eric Gipson	...	Window Washer
Penny Marshall	...	Bolo Executive
Sam Marshall	...	Kid #1
Ethan Marshall	...	Kid #2
Paul T. Taylor	...	Bald Guy (as Paul Taylor)
Preston Vanderslice	...	Kyle
Dan Braverman	...	Cab Driver (as Daniel Braverman)
Kelvin Payton	...	Waiter
Matt Walker	...	Angry Priest
Wayne Douglas Morgan	...	Security Guard
Ken Paves	...	Hairstylist
Ted Ferguson	...	Upset Norwegian Priest (as Walter 'Ted' Ferguson)
Doug Ramer	...	Board Member #1
Stephen Lee	...	Board Member #2
Richard Salvatore	...	Spec House Dad
John D. Cook	...	Dismayed Norwegian Priest
Corey Flaspoehler	...	Messenger
Paul Sampson	...	Male Office Worker #1
Christa Campbell	...	Female Office Worker #1
Mike West	...	Hot Dog Vendor
Chris August	...	Piano Guy
Claudine Oriol	...	Female Marina Executive
Sarah Ann Schultz	...	Claudette French
Shirly Brener	...	Female Office worker #3
Ron Jacobsohn	...	Male Marina Executive
James Barnes	...	Elevator Rider #1
Stephanie Barnes	...	Elevator Rider #2
Matthew Cardarople	...	Mailroom worker
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John T. Billingsley	...	Construction Worker (uncredited)
Brooke Devenney	...	Party Kid (uncredited)
Brad Dison	...	Norwegian Priest (uncredited)
Sierra Lyn Duncil	...	Party Kid (uncredited)
Pamela Houghton	...	C & C Employee (uncredited)
Deborah R. Jones	...	C & C Employee (uncredited)
Eric Kelly McFarland	...	Construction Worker (uncredited)
Amy McGee	...	New York Executive (uncredited)
Seth Nichols	...	Birthday Party Boy (uncredited)
Brittany Alexis Palmer	...	Cab Stealer (uncredited)
Ashley-Anne Parker	...	New York Pedestrian (uncredited)
Erika Perez	...	Bar Patron (uncredited)
Jeannie Perrin	...	C & C Employee (uncredited)
Breon Pugh	...	New Yorker (uncredited)
Colvin Roberson	...	NYC Pedestrian (uncredited)
Dominic Salvatore	...	Dominic (uncredited)
Cassidy Smith	...	Party Kid (uncredited)
Chuck Vail	...	Business Executive (uncredited)
Aidan Vitela	...	Party Kid (uncredited)
Thomas Wallace	...	Construction Worker (uncredited)
Amanda Weisner	...	C&C Employee (uncredited)
Brent Weisner	...	Architect (uncredited)
Van White	...	C & C Executive (uncredited)
Shawnia Willson	...	Waitress at Tappas restaurant (uncredited)
Amber A. Wood	...	Birthday Party Guest (uncredited)
Courtney Shay Young	...	C & C Employee (uncredited)

Directed by
Scott Marshall

Writing credits (WGA)
David McHugh		(screenplay) &
Matthew Flanagan		(screenplay)
John Cohen		(story) and
David McHugh		(story) &
Matthew Flanagan		(story)

Produced by
Justin Berfield	....	producer
Freddy Braidy	....	producer
Boaz Davidson	....	executive producer
Vic David	....	line producer: New York
Danny Dimbort	....	executive producer
Jason Felts	....	producer
Michael P. Flannigan	....	executive producer
Lati Grobman	....	producer
Jonathan Hood	....	assistant producer: New York
Avi Lerner	....	executive producer
David E. Ornston	....	producer
David Pomier	....	line producer
Jeff Rice	....	co-producer
Richard Salvatore	....	producer
Mercy Santos	....	co-producer
Trevor Short	....	executive producer
Joe Simpson	....	producer
John Thompson	....	executive producer

Cinematography by
Mark Irwin		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Tara Timpone

Casting by
Brinkley A. Maginnis

Production Design by
Bob Ziembicki

Art Direction by
Richard Fojo

Set Decoration by
Bradford Johnson

Costume Design by
Sara Markowitz

Makeup Department
Margot Boccia	....	makeup artist: Ms. Simpson
Jessie Holiday	....	hair stylist: Ms. Simpson
Krystal Kershaw	....	additional makeup artist
Yuko T. Koach	....	hair department head (as Yuko Tokunaga)
Myke Michaels	....	makeup department head
Lauren Thomas	....	assistant makeup artist
Richard Wetzel	....	key makeup artist
Crystal Woodford	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Diana Lui	....	additional production supervisor
Sarah Parker	....	post-production supervisor: Millennium Films
David Pomier	....	unit production manager
Joshua Throne	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Tommy Harper	....	first assistant director (as Thomy Harper)
Kevin O'Neil	....	second second assistant director
David Waters	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Jack Ballance	....	set designer
Hannah Beachler	....	on-set dresser
Anna Bowers	....	assistant on-set dresser (as Anna C. Bowers)
Chris Britt	....	set dresser
Eddie Burcham	....	set dresser
Robert M. Donaldson	....	set dresser
Sean Duhame	....	graphic artist
Mimi Gauthier	....	assistant set decorator
Joey Gbur	....	set dresser
Stanford Gilbert	....	property master
Juliana Hoffpauir	....	buyer
J.D. Jacoby	....	assistant property master
Diego J. Martinez	....	art department coordinator
Charlie Nauman	....	assistant property master
Elizabeth Ralston	....	assistant property master: New York
Cindy Seay	....	scenic
John Eric Seay	....	carpenter
Tim J. Smith	....	set dresser
Floyd B. Sterling	....	set dresser
Rachel Townsend	....	assistant property master: New York

Sound Department
Steve C. Aaron	....	sound mixer
Jeremy Balko	....	adr mixer
Alex Brazan	....	sound editor
Robert Dehn	....	assistant sound editor
Jason Dotts	....	sound editor
J. Alex Faucheux	....	sound editor
Brent Findley	....	sound effects editor
Lesa Foust	....	boom operator
Jason Gaya	....	assistant sound editor
Brennan Gerle	....	sound effects editor
Judah Getz	....	foley mixer
Jerry Gilbert	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jerry Gilbert	....	supervising sound editor
Kevin Gradnigo	....	sound editor
Chad J. Hughes	....	sound effects editor
Dana McCommon	....	adr mixer
Andrew Morgado	....	adr mixer
Jay Nierenberg	....	supervising sound editor
Todd Niesen	....	dialogue editor
Angelo Palazzo	....	sound effects editor
Anthony Viera	....	eng sound mixer
Jared Watt	....	sound utility

Special Effects by
William Dawson	....	special effects foreman
Josh Hakian	....	special effects coordinator
Jack Lynch	....	special effects technician
Bob Trevino	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Derek Bourque	....	lead visual effects artist
Lawles Bourque	....	visual effects supervisor: compositing
Rachel Clement	....	digital cleanup artist
Scott Coulter	....	visual effects producer: Worldwide FX
Lauren Hendrix	....	special effects artist
John Lands	....	visual effects coordinator
James Ledesma	....	scanning operator
Velislava Mihailova	....	digital effects artist
Nikolay Pachov	....	visual effect assistant editor
Vladimir Zdravkov	....	visual effects systems administrator

Stunts
Amy Davis	....	stunt double
Jeff Galpin	....	stunt double: Luke Wilson
Dina L. Margolin	....	stunt double
Johnny Martin	....	stunt coordinator
Tina Mckissick	....	stunt double: Jessica Simpson
John Schuman	....	stunt coordinator: New York (as John-Eric Schuman)
John Schuman	....	stunt double (as John-Eric Schuman)

Camera and Electrical Department
Justin Babin	....	rigging grip best boy
Patrick Barnes	....	camera production assistant
Danny Brazen	....	best boy grip
Darwin Montana Browne	....	key grip
Kevin Carlisle	....	grip
Jeffrey N. Civa	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Duane Cooper	....	grip
Dylan Crawshay-Williams	....	best boy grip: second unit
René Crout	....	first assistant camera: second unit
Brandon Dauzat	....	second assistant camera
Rowland Egerton	....	rigging grip
Eli Everhard	....	lighting technician
Jon Baronn Farmer	....	still photographer
David J. Frederick	....	Steadicam operator
Dan Furst	....	video assist operator
Kevin Gazdik	....	best boy rigging electric
Rob Harlow	....	key grip: second unit
Doug Huete	....	best boy electric
Joe Iverson	....	electrician
Franklin Jones II	....	rigging grip
Chris Leidholdt	....	rigging key grip
Jim Leidholdt	....	dolly grip
Luis Lopez DeVictoria	....	dolly grip: "b" camera
James Madrid	....	second assistant camera: second unit
Bradley Martin	....	rigging electrician
Robert Morrison	....	grip
Trace Schneider	....	electrician
Wayne Sharp	....	grip
Jeff Taylor	....	second assistant camera
Tedd Underwood	....	electrician
Lyle Vincent	....	director of photography: second unit
Jay W. Yowler	....	gaffer
Steve Zeiger	....	rigging electrician

Casting Department
Jamie Baremore	....	local casting associate
Brent Caballero	....	extras casting
Tara Duncil	....	assistant to casting director
Tara Duncil	....	extras casting
Corey Flaspoehler	....	assistant to casting director
Meredith Jacobson	....	extras casting
Brinkley A. Maginnis	....	background casting
Brinkley A. Maginnis	....	local casting
Natalie Patterson	....	assistant to casting director

Costume and Wardrobe Department
S. Aimee Helms	....	key set costumer
Susan Thomas	....	costumer
Joulles Wright	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
Julius Friede	....	digital intermediate colorist
David Graubard	....	digital intermediate senior systems engineer
Michelle Herrin	....	assistant editor
Candice Levy	....	post-production coordinator
Sarah Priestnall	....	production supervisor: digital intermediate
David Scharf	....	additional editor
Mark Scovil	....	first assistant editor
Kurt Tuffendsam	....	digital intermediate project manager
Kendall Wiltz	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Selena Arizanovic	....	music coordinator
Ashley Miller	....	music supervisor

Transportation Department
Monte Emery	....	transportation
Jerry Jackson	....	transportation coordinator
Robert Larriviere	....	transportation office intern
Vicki Lybrand	....	transportation dispatcher
Dennis W. Murphy	....	background driver
Beverly Reeves	....	driver
John Yarbrough	....	driver: cast
Felicia Zamora	....	driver

Other crew
Danny 'Dano' Anderson	....	set production assistant
Aaron Askew	....	accounting clerk
Adam Babin	....	production assistant
Prince Bagdasarian	....	film and high definition coordinator
Mary Bean	....	additional set production assistant
James Bearb	....	stand-in
Rebecca Breckel	....	script supervisor: second unit
Alexandre Coscas	....	assistant: Mr Avi Lerner
Trang Dang	....	production coordinator
Christina DeCharles	....	location assistant
Christina DeCharles	....	office production assistant
Michelle DeForest	....	set production assistant
Shanti Delsarte	....	production coordinator
Ashley Franklin	....	additional office production assistant
Ryan Glorioso	....	location assistant
Felisha N. Grice	....	set production assistant
Chris Hadlock	....	assistant production coordinator
Lucia Hallett	....	production assistant
Paul Huber	....	set production assistant
James Jereza	....	set medic
John Johns	....	computer playback supervisor
Bruce Jones	....	additional set production assistant: New York
Matthew Keim	....	location assistant
Michael Klastorin	....	unit publicist
Alan J. Lam	....	production controller
Liz Landers	....	key craft service
Jessica Lee	....	production assistant
Ed Lipscomb	....	location manager
Michelle C. Lipscomb	....	location coordinator
Barbara Long	....	production accountant
Meg Marchand	....	production assistant
Jill K. Perno	....	set production assistant
Jim Small	....	key assistant location manager
Will Steed	....	stand-in: Mr. Wilson
Maggie Stoyanova	....	travel coordinator
Molly Sullivan	....	stand-in: Amber
Arturo Lopez Uscanga	....	scanning manager
Fernando Vallejo	....	production assistant
Robert Van Norden	....	assistant: Mr. Thompson
Roman Viaris-de-Lesegno	....	vice president finance
Steven E. Williams	....	production assistant
Steven E. Williams	....	stand-in
Courtney Shay Young	....	stand-in: Ms. Simpson
Anthony Yuse	....	set production assistant
Will Zinser	....	office production assistant

Thanks
Kathleen Blanco	....	special thanks (as Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco)

Production Companies

• Millennium Films
• Papa Joe Films

Distributors

• Millennium Films (2007) (worldwide) (all media)
• First Look International (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• Top Film (2008) (Russia) (theatrical)
• JRC Film (2008) (Ukraine) (theatrical)
• Bridge Entertainment Group (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Colifilms Distribution (2009) (France) (theatrical)
• Odeon (2008) (Greece) (all media)
• Odeon (2008) (Romania) (all media)
• RTL Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (TV) (RTL5) (first national airing)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Behind the Scenes Freight  shipping by
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  cranes
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  dollies
• Fairfield Studios  post-production (ADR)
• Hollywood Intermediate  digital intermediate services
• Louisiana Media Services  production services (post-production)
• MS-Pro/MusicSupervisor.com  post-production (music services)
• Movie Movers  star trailers
• Sonic Magic  sound post-production
• Wildfire Studios  digital intermediate facility

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sexual material.

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Norwegian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Australia:PG | Singapore:PG | Portugal:M/12

Filming Locations:

Minden, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Millennium Films

Trivia:

The movie became a hit in Ukraine grossing more than $253,000 in the opening weekend.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Ben delivers mail in C&C the second time, he throws a white seemingly non-branded envelope, but the recipient catches a DHL yellow envelope.

Movie Connections:

References "Rome" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Something In Your Eyes

Not ambitious at all, very predictable, but with the nice cast, fans of light romance should enjoy it!

Katie (Jessica Simpson) lives in Oklahoma with her "Pap Paw" (Willie Nelson), who runs a general store. She is engaged to a real looker, Billy (Drew Fuller) who is leaving the plains for New York City, with the intent to become a top model. Katie is forlorn about his departure and soon makes plans to travel to Manhattan herself, for a surprise visit. However, Billy the Cad has a woman in his bedroom when Katie comes knocking. Tearfully, Katie gives him back the ring and heads to the apartment of another Oklahoma transplant, Haley (Rachael Leigh Cook). Haley is an aspiring actress and offers welcome and comfort to Katie. But, when she has an audition, she asks Katie to fill in for her at her day job as a bicycle courier. In short order, Katie not only meets a nice mail clerk, Ben (Luke Wilson) but also a nefarious company vice president, Debra (Penelope Ann Miller) and her loathsome assistant, Freddy (Andy Dick). Perceiving Katie as a "dim bulb", they soon have her placed as the secretary for the company president (Larry Miller), where they hope to manipulate her into embarrassing the prez in front of the board of directors, resulting in his ouster and Debra's elevation. Can such a scheme work and is Katie really just another dumb bunny? This is a very predictable offering to fans of light romance but it has its moments and most of the cast is really terrific. Simpson herself is rather nondescript but pleasant but not so for the other thespians. Wilson is engaging as ever, Penelope Ann Miller makes a fine screen witch, and Dick has some really funny scenes. Larry Miller, Nelson and Cook also add much to the film's enjoyment. As for Fuller, all one can say is "wow!" He is very handsome and should have a bright future ahead of him, as an actor or a model. While there is nothing spectacular about the costumes, sets, or photography, they are definitely up to par, but the formulaic script and direction alternates between humor and tediousness. In short, if you are not an admirer of the romcom genre, you would probably be well advised to skip this one altogether. But, for those who adore tales of love and laughs, this will fill a need when entertainment choices are lacking.