Jim (jim-1225) This review owes its existence entirely to a review. We take a weekly TV magazine to see what is coming up, and duly decide what we will watch. Obligingly, there are brief reviews of most of the films scheduled to be shown on the five major terrestrial channels. In addition to the prose, each film is allocated a 1-5 star rating. 5 means Don't Miss (superior to 4 for Excellent!), down to 1 standing for Poor. We have learned from vast experience that, with few exceptions, stars are awarded for gross taste, foul language, offensive content, promiscuity, horror, blood & guts, and especially killing off the hero/heroine just when everyone was about to live happily ever after. (If that isn't done, the movie is denigrated as being 'predictable' - the worst insult imaginable!)Brave New Girl was given only 1 star, thereby suggesting it was a candidate worthy of our time and attention. This was confirmed by the reviewer's description of the movie as being a "truly awful tale", and, "Stupid, just stupid". We watched it, and my wife and I were glad we did so. The TV magazine reviewer further stated that the movie was "not a reworking of War and Peace", with which we have to agree. Reading through the IMDb reviews for this title a day or two later, the urge to pick up my pen (so to speak) to add my halfpennyworth (pronounced harf'pen'uth (emphasis on the first syllable) for the uninitiated) became overwhelming.Why did we take to this movie? Well, it's just a matter of taste. We like attractive characters, believable relationships between them, interesting situations, courtesy and respect, good triumphing over evil, and so on. We liked the integrity and personalities of Holly (Lindsey Haun), her Mum (Virginia Madsen), Ditz (Barbara Mamabolo), Grant (Nick Roth), Zoe (Joanne Boland) and the two male professors involved in the story. So what if the storyline includes a 'wicked witch of the west' in the form of Angela (Barbara Mamabolo), provided that she plays the part with some conviction. We appreciated the friendship depicted between the two room-mates, with one having a financially challenged upbringing by a loving single Mum, and the other having every material advantage but receiving little parental time and affection. Is it any wonder that Ditz felt the way she did about Holly's Mum? Is it surprising that Grant should take an immediate interest in Holly, considering the manner of their initial meeting, Holly's dazzling smiles and her lively self-possession? I think these issues and the events are believable enough, but it is necessary to pretend that the scholarship and other circumstances are realistic in order for the tale to have a setting.My wife and I are greatly blessed by not having any significant musical education. This enables us to enjoy the sounds produced by instruments and voices without having our critical faculties intruding unduly on our listening, and thus spoiling the experience. We enjoyed both the classical pieces and the pop, which came over well on the TV, and we weren't struck by any lack of talent. Also, it mattered not that Holly's classical vocals were dubbed by someone else.We enjoyed the movie enough to look for a DVD. The average delivered price we have paid per disk for the movies in our collection currently stands at £4.9484 (rounded to four decimal places). Brave New Girl was available from a trusted supplier on the Amazon Marketplace for £1.3516 (rounded to four decimal places) above this figure. Such a purchase would increase the average. Why I should resent this is a mystery to me, but it is a testimony to our enjoyment of this film that we placed an order anyway. I have awarded this film 7 IMDb stars out of ten, having docked one for overenthusiastic reception of the performances by the audiences, one for Britney advertising and one for something else I can't remember right now. (In case it hasn't tumbled, this review is an anthem in celebration of the use of brackets!)

harpreet_cute1409 I found this movie kinda boring and predictable..kinda like a happy movie..girl goes into music school but doesn't keep up with the competition but suddenly does really good and beats snobby girl,gets the hot guy and in the end lives happily ever after.Hmm..thats sound a lot like Hilary Duff's Raise Your Voice in a badder version.But still the guy was hot and the songs were really cool especially the duet in the bar..I also thought the movie was about a girl whose trying to fit in..i didn't really like the part where just because she remixed the song doesn't mean its the best..the classical songs also were also pretty good.thats what i mean when i say that the movie was too predictable..

Allison Martell Wow. I am really really disgusted at this movie. Not only is it so tacky, unoriginal, poorly acted, poorly directed, and over-advertised, it also teaches little girls everywhere that they can go up on stage and sing tacky out-of-date pop songs, send in a tape and get into a CLASSICAL music conservatory among some of the worlds finest and most hard-working musicians. The people that get into those conservatories work their ASSES off trying to perfect their style, and especially in the vocal category, it takes even more hard work and dedication. It is even more insulting later on to see her sitting there not even able to read music. READING MUSIC IS A NECESSITY WHEN YOU WANT TO BE A MUSICIAN!!! period. End of story. You cannot expect to be a music major without being able to read music. If you can sing your favorite pop song after listening to it 20 times over again, somewhat in tune, this does not mean you are talented. It does not mean you belong in a music conservatory. It doesn't even mean you belong in choir. It means you should try out your local karaoke bar. Its enough of a problem to have these blonde bimbos making HIGH-SCHOOL choirs sound like crap, but to put out a movie like this encouraging them that they can major in music with such mediocre abilities is degrating, and insulting to anyone who's worked hard at what they do. This is not a brave new girl, this is a talentless idiot who belongs in beauty school across the street from the music conservatory. I really wish I could sue someone over this, it makes me that mad.I give this 0 stars out of 10. Don't even see it. Don't support such insulting behavior.

danielpitney This movie is entertaining enough due to an excellent performance by Virginia Madsen and the fact that Lindsey Haun is lovely. However the reason the movie is so predictable is that we've seen it all before. I've haven't read the book A Mother's Gift but I hope for Britney and Lynne Spears sake it is completely different than this movie. Unless you consider ending a movie with what is essentially a music video an original idea, the entire movie brings to mind the word plagiarized.