Cadet Kelly

There was a time in the early 2000s when Hilary Duff was everywhere, and a lot of that was because of her popularity amongst teenagers on “Lizzie McGuire.” Aaron Beierle had noted in his review, “Hilary Duff continues to have her image splashed across magazine covers across the country, and yet her films continue to get diminishing results at the box office, with the recent "Perfect Man" starting to disappear from theaters shortly after it opened. The films (see "Raise Your Voice") often seem like long-form trailers for Duff's latest musical efforts, as well.”

“Cadet Kelly,” a 2002 Hilary Duff movie that aired on the Disney Channel, isn’t bad, but there’s some really questionable things. Kelly, played by Hilary Duff, is a student at a private Manhattan school where she is able to express herself and be a teen fashion icon. Her parents are divorced, but she still sees them both. However, her mother has decided to start a new life with General Joe Maxwell, played by Gary Cole. While Kelly is welcoming in the marriage, she gets a sudden shock when her mother lets Kelly know that she’s transferring to Military School, where General Maxwell is the dean. The scene is strangely put, and it looks as though her mom is throwing her only child into the care of her new husband.

When she arrives, she gets put under the control of Cadet Captain Stone, played by Christy Carlson Romano. Kelly tries to fight against authority at every opportunity while at the school, but when she sees the drill team practicing, she finally sees something she thinks she will be good at in the school. As you could predict, the team finally starts winning when she enlists.

Beierle said, “Duff's sunny, sweet personality works well for light comedy like "Lizzy McGuire". However, Duff flounders when it comes to emotional moments, which there are a few of here. She'd be best in the future being a smaller part of a larger ensemble.” Carlson Romano and Cole give find supporting roles. In the end, “Cadet Kelly” isn’t bad as some Disney Channel Original Movies with some fun moments, but it’s really clichéd and forgettable.

“Cadet Kelly” gives some fun moments, but Duff’s performance is just passable and the movie is mostly predictable material (Beierle said, “and, by the looks of it, I'm guessing no military advisor was involved.”) Hilary Duff fan probably will be the ones who will want to buy the DVD, even if it is fairly cheap.

Although it may not be entirely clichéd, with a lesson that things don’t always go as wanted, but still, I don’t really see anything about this that will make me want to watch it again. Just to reiterate: this isn’t one that I hate or thought it was bad, but I just think it falls in the middle. See it for yourself and judge it based on how you think of things.

Tomorrow I will be looking at a film that I really found laughably predictable in “Disney Channel Original Movie Month.”