Chasing Liberty Review
by Laura Clifford (laura AT reelingreviews DOT com)January 9th, 2004
CHASING LIBERTY
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Anna Foster (Mandy Moore, "How to Deal") has spent the last six years of her life growing up under a microscope as the only daughter of the U.S. President. The eighteen year-old is the ideal diplomat, but when dad reneges on a promise to cut back on her security while she goes clubbing in Prague, Anna goes A.W.O.L. "Chasing Liberty."
What can be said about a First Daughter movie that begins with a lame 'before-date-clothes-changing' montage set to "American Girl," a song that will be forever tied to the kidnapping of a senator's child by Buffalo Bill in "The Silence of the Lambs?" Little, unfortunately, even though the President is played by Mark Harmon, a previous portrayer of serial killer Ted Bundy, who spends most of this film hiding Presidential cigars. Considering that the filmmakers cannot pump life into this "Roman Holiday" wannabe despite the talented Moore and stunning European settings, these seem to be inadvertent subversions rather than any originality on their part.
During Anna's first date with Grant (Stark Sands, "Die, Mommy, Die!") at a DC restaurant, friends of the lad's approach and reach for a camera - big mistake. A swarm of secret service descend, the date is history and the boy Anna was attracted to scared off. Detecting a bargaining chip, Anna asks dad for an evening of freedom during an upcoming presidential trip to Europe and he agrees to let her accompany the French Ambassador's daughter to the 'opera,' but Gabrielle (Beatrice Rosen) has grown a bit wild and the opera is really a funky underground club, so Foster sends the usual contingent after the girls. Anna quickly smells a rat, does a quick costume change and pleads with a handsome Vespa-owning stranger outside to help her escape her pursuers.
Ben Calder (newcomer Matthew Goode), puts up with Anna's alcohol and skinny-dipping indulgences and confounds her by resisting her charms, but unbeknownst to Anna, Ben is another of dad's agents currently chafing against his 'babysitting' gig. The duo have a whirlwind tour of Europe after boarding the wrong train to Berlin and Ben's feeling's begin to change, but neither Anna nor Ben can reveal their true identities.
Screenwriters Derek Guiley and David Schneiderman follow a time-tested format (this really is like "Roman Holiday" given a dash of "What a Girl Wants" and more indulgent ending), but although they've come up with a few cute ideas and lines of dialogue, they also allow inconsistencies (Anna's change of hair color only throws people off when plot convenient) and start their central relationship off on a bumpy, grating course that makes both parties unsympathetic. Director Andy Cadiff ("Leave It to Beaver") allows a romantic subplot featuring more seasoned actors to run off with the show, leaving the foreground action high and dry.
Moore is clearly talented. When given good lines, her comic timing is aces ('I'm going to die before I get to third base...I mean second base' she announces in the Oval Office), but too often she's hamstrung by cliche. Costar Goode is certainly good looking, but he too is dragged down by his character's constraints. They're provided with a third wheel (a la "Roman Holiday), McGruff, played by Martin Hancock like an over-emoting Rhys Ifans, and surrounded by ethnic cliche's in supporting roles (Joseph Long as sympathetic amateur gondolier Eugenio, Miriam Margoyles as his match-making mama and Adrian Bouchet as athletic Aryan Gus Gus). Most of the film's enjoyment comes from the bantering between Jeremy Piven ("Runaway Jury") and Annabella Sciorra (HBO's "The Sopranos") as Weiss and Morales, a Secret Service team feebly resisting their opposing attraction. The locations are also a plus, with the bridges of Prague, Venice and London prominently featured. Musical selections are varied, from The Roots to Chris Isaak to Puccini, although oddly, Moore does not contribute.
"Chasing Liberty" slightly trumps 2003's opening release salvo "Just Married," while traveling much of the same route ('honeymooning' in Venice, the Alps, meddling fathers), but Mandy Moore cannot continue to coast with such middling fare and retain good will - it's time for something a little more cutting edge fare for this promising singer/actress
C+
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