Chasing Liberty

Chasing Liberty (2004)
Director: Andy Cadiff
Starring: Mandy Moore, Matthew Goode, Mark Harmon

OK. This looked to me like a pretty run-of-the-mill, teen comedy with basically exactly the same plot as First Daughter (duaghter of the President wants to experience 'real life' so she goes out into the big, wide world looking for adventure and falls in love with a guy who turns out to be a Secret Service agent helping to protect her. Seriously. That is the plot of BOTH MOVIES.) Anyway, I had already seen First Daughter and to be honest, it wasn't at all memorable. I can hardly remember anything in it. Basically, it was pretty crap. But anyway, on to Chasing Liberty...

It was a lot better than I expected. First of all, Mandy Moore is a way better actress than Katie Holmes. Second of all, I liked the male lead a lot more. This one is British, and very cute, and had some really funny lines. That was another major advantage to the movie - the writing. While at times it teetered on the downright cliched, at other times it was really fresh and funny. The British guy (played by Matthew Goode) was really sarcastic in a British kind of way and it actually made me wonder if the movie had been written by an English person.

The plot was pretty formulaic and predictable, but had another big difference to First Daughter: it was almost all set in Europe - Venice, Berlin, Prague, Austria, etc. This meant that there were beautiful shots of these places and of course, being in cities like Venice made it all the more romantic.

The supporting cast were very good and I especially liked the subplot of the two Secret Service agents following the couple around Europe, and the romance between them.

Overall, it is a fresh, funny, romantic comedy that I would recommend - yes, there is some Hollywood fluff and a few cliches, but the scenery, the dialogue and the performances make up for that. It is an enjoyable film; not one-of-the-films-everyone-should-see-before-they-die type of movie, but enjoyable just the same.

B+
(By the way, I'm too indecisive with the giving movies numbers of stars, so I'll be giving movies grades.)

Talliestar

Anna: Dad! You ruined my date! Now I'll die before I ever get to third base... I mean second base.