Raise Your Voice is an American musical drama film released in 2004 for the teen audience starring Hilary Duff as Theresa "Terri" Fletcher in the lead role. It was directed by Sean McNamara and stars Hilary Duff; Oliver James, Lauren Mayhew, David Keith, and Dana Davis co-star. The film tells the story of a teenage girl from Flagstaff, Arizona who spends the summer at a performing arts school in Los Angeles against her father's will. It received mainly poor reviews from critics[1] and did not live up to box office expectations, garnering just $14,867,514.[2]
The film was originally conceived by New Line Cinema music executive Mitch Rotter and pitched as a "Christian Music Project". The role of Terri was originally cast to Evan Rachel Wood, who later dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. The film features songs from Duff's album Hilary Duff, which was released in the U.S. a week before Raise Your Voice; the songs featured are "Fly", "Someone's Watching over Me" and "Jericho".
Raise Your Voice was the first live-action film to air on The CW, having aired on Thanksgiving Day 2007.
Plot
Terri Fletcher loves to sing. Her older brother, Paul, is her best friend and inspiration. Their restaurant-owner father Simon is well-meaning but strict and opinionated to the point of being dictatorial; he vehemently opposes Terri's dream of attending Bristol-Hillman Conservatory: a prestigious Los Angeles performing-arts school. Ostensibly, Simon believes there are more important things in life than singing; secretly, Simon's opposition stems from being forced to turn down a scholarship of his own so that his parents wouldn't have to close the restaurant.
On the eve of Paul's high-school graduation, during a family barbecue, he announces his plans to leave town for college; this starts a heated argument with Simon, who grounds his "rebellious" son. To cheer her brother up, Terri buys him a couple of tickets so they can go and see a Three Days Grace concert. Terri insists on having one last night of fun before Paul goes to college, so they sneak out. Late that night, as Paul is driving them home from the concert, they get into a major car crash (blind-sided by a drunk driver); injuring Terri and killing Paul. The shattered Terri blames herself for Paul's death; in her state of grief and guilt, she resigns herself to working in her father's restaurant...giving up her music scholarship and, with it, her dream of going to Bristol-Hillman.
Soon, however, Terri has a change of heart upon realizing that Paul would have wanted her to go; indeed, it was he who compiled and mailed in her application on DVD-R. Simon stubbornly forbids her to attend the school, but Terri's mother wants the best for her sole remaining child. So Mrs. Fletcher sends Terri off to Los Angeles where she can pursue her dreams. Mrs. Fletcher tells her husband that Terri is on vacation with her free-spirited Aunt Nina (Simon's sister).
At Bristol-Hillman Conservatory, Terri experiences some difficulty fitting in, until she befriends fellow student Jay Corgan (played by Oliver James), an English boy who has a crush on her. The two proceed to date, incurring jealousy from Jay's ex-girlfriend, Robin.
Terri also meets an active boy named Engelbert, who calls himself Kiwi because he hates his real name. He ends up falling for a piano player, Sloane who reacts bitterly when Terri inadvertently walks in on her practicing at the piano; abruptly, Sloane stops playing and angrily stares at Terri for disturbing her. Terri tells Sloane about Kiwi's crush on her, and Sloane agrees to go on a double date with them. Then Kiwi makes noises to get Sloane's attention; she ignores him at first, but finally confronts him for being so disruptive; they both end up kissing and wreck the entire room in the process.
While things heat up between Kiwi and Sloan, Robin vainly attempts to win back Jay by stealing a kiss from him. Terri, who walks in on them just as Robin does this, jumps to the obvious-but-wrong conclusion and runs off in tears. Terri and Jay work separately, but have difficulty finishing the song they were writing together. Jay gets drunk over Terri; both spend that whole night on the conservatory's rooftop, as he sobers up. They finally sort things out, and resume co-writing their song.
Just before Bristol-Hillman's climactic graduation-concert, an outraged Simon (having discovered the ruse perpetrated by his sister and his wife) barges into Terri's dorm and tries to force her to come home. She, however, has come much too far and worked much too hard to back down now. Terri proclaims that, while she used to criticize her brother for going against their father, Paul was dead to Simon years before that fateful night. If Simon is prepared to follow her onstage and sabotage Terri before all her instructors and fellow students, that's his business. But she's not about to bury her Heaven-sent gift merely to slake her father's pent-up jealousy.
Terri finally overcomes her guilt and grief by performing "Someone's Watching over Me", as a farewell-dedication to her late brother. (It is the song she and Jay composed together.) Denise, Terri's violinist-friend, wins the scholarship. But Terri takes this in stride because she knows her friend needed the money more than anyone else there. Just being accepted and completing the summer sessions at Bristol-Hillman is as great a prize as Terri could hope for. Her father is proud of her performance and allows her to return to the school next year.
As the end credits roll, Terri sings "Jericho".
Cast
Main Cast
Extended cast
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Reception
The film received mostly negative critics, receiving 33 out of 100 by Metacritic[3] and achieving a 16% (rotten) rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[4]
For her work in the movie, Duff won the 2005 Kids Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actress.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack for Raise Your Voice was never released. Three songs sung by Hilary Duff were included in the movie: "Fly", "Someone's Watching over Me", and "Jericho"; all were released on her eponymous sophomore album. Three Days Grace also contributed the songs "Are You Ready?" and "Home" to the movie, both on their self-titled debut album.
References
External links
