Raise Your Voice

For the Bad Religion song, see No Substance.

Raise Your Voice
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Sean McNamara
Produced by	Sean McNamara David Brookwell Toby Emmerich A.J. Dix Sara Risher William Shively
Screenplay by	Sam Schreiber
Story by	Mitch Rotter
Starring	Hilary Duff Oliver James Jason Ritter Dana Davis Kat Dennings Rita Wilson David Keith Rebecca De Mornay John Corbett
Music by	Aaron Zigman Machine Head
Cinematography	John R. Leonetti
Editing by	Jeff Canavan
Studio	Brookwell McNamara Entertainment FilmEngine
Distributed by	New Line Cinema
Release date(s)	October 8, 2004
Running time	103 minutes 107 minutes (extended cut)
Country	United States
Language	English French
Budget	$15 million
Box office	$14,867,514

Raise Your Voice is a 2004 American teen musical drama film directed by Sean McNamara

Plot

Terri Fletcher (Hilary Duff), a teenager with a passion for singing, has been accepted into a music program in Los Angeles to compete for a $10,000 scholarship shortly after her brother Paul (Jason Ritter)'s tragic death in a car crash. However, her father Simon (David Keith), a second-generation restaurateur, disapproves of Terri's plans, stating that being a singer may not be a worthwhile life choice. In reality, his opposition stems from resentment; Simon turned down a similar scholarship to run his parents' restaurant when they became ill; he is intimidated by the thought of his daughter flourishing where he couldn't bring himself to try. However, Terri's mother, Frances (Rita Wilson), has a different opinion, knowing that Paul would have wanted Terri to attend the program. Frances tells Simon that Terri plans to live with her aunt Nina (Rebecca De Mornay) in Palm Desert for the summer and allows her daughter to travel to LA.

Terri arrives in Los Angeles and weathers some difficult ordeals: her jacket is stolen, her cab driver is crabby, and when she arrives at the music school, the door is locked; fellow student Jay (Oliver James) lets her in and Terri arrives safely. While at the program, Terri makes new friends and learns a great deal about music, but problems arise when she is plagued by memories of the car crash which took Paul's life and finds it increasingly difficult to keep her participation in the program a secret from her father.

Throughout the film, Terri develops a mutual fondness for Jay, but she faces competition from Robin Childers (Lauren C. Mayhew), who was involved with Jay the previous summer. Although Robin still harbors feelings for Jay, it is obvious that he does not reciprocate these feelings. Jay tries to get Robin to cease her efforts to keep him and Terri apart. On one occasion, she kisses him just as Terri walks in. Jay pushes Robin away, but Terri runs off in tears, ignoring Jay's insistence that the kiss meant nothing. Later, finding him drunk, Terri and her roommate Denise (Dana Davis) take Jay elsewhere to sober up. When he does, Terri tells Jay the truth about her brother's death; he was killed by a drunk driver. Jay apologizes, and Terri agrees to finish the song they've been working on for the scholarship contest.

At home, Simon learns of Terri's ruse and becomes furious. On the final day, Simon comes to the school and Terri finds him packing up her belongings; he reams his daughter for disobeying and deceiving him, and for turning his own sister and wife against him. She begs him to let her finish what she started here and not let the summer go to waste. Ultimately, her father concedes and Terri gets to perform the song she rehearsed with Jay. The scholarship prize is won by Denise, and Simon is proud of his daughter and her talents. Terri's teachers hope to see her next year; Simon replies that they just might. Over the end credits, Terri performs for her parents and Nina, with Jay cheering her on.

Cast

• Hilary Duff as Theresa "Terri" Fletcher
• Oliver James as Jay Corgan
• Jason Ritter as Paul Fletcher
• Dana Davis as Denise Gilmore
• David Keith as Simon Fletcher
• Johnny Lewis as Englebert "Kiwi" Wilson
• Rita Wilson as Frances Fletcher
• Lauren C. Mayhew as Robin Childers
• Kat Dennings as Sloane
• Rebecca De Mornay as Aunt Nina Fletcher
• John Corbett as Mr. Torvaldd
• Three Days Grace (Adam Gontier, Barry Stock, Brad Walst and Neil Sanderson) as Themselves

Reception

Critical reception

The film received mostly negative reviews, receiving 33 out of 100 by Metacritic and achieving a 16% (rotten) rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Box office

The film opened on October 8, 2004 and grossed $4,022,693 in its opening weekend at #6, behind Shark Tale's second weekend, Friday Night Lights, Ladder 49's second weekend, Taxi, and The Forgotten's third weekend.

By the end of its run, Raise Your Voice grossed $10,411,980 domestically and $4,455,534 internationally, totaling $14,867,514 worldwide.

Accolades

For her role, Duff won Favorite Movie Actress at the 2005 Kids Choice Awards.

Home media

The film was released on DVD February 12, 2005.

Raise Your Voice was the first live-action film to air on The CW, having aired on Thanksgiving Day 2007.

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 second album. Three Days Grace also contributed the songs "Are You Ready" and "Home" to the movie, both on their self-titled debut album.

External links

• Official website
• Raise Your Voice at the Internet Movie Database
• Raise Your Voice at Box Office Mojo
• Raise Your Voice at Rotten Tomatoes
• Raise Your Voice at Metacritic