Film Reviews

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen

• Rating:
• Director: Sara Sugarman
• Starring: Adam Garcia
• Details: US / 97 mins / (12PG).

After an impressive performance in last year's surprisingly good Freaky Friday, Lindsay Lohan is given the opportunity to carry a film. Shame she didn't pick something better than Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen to showcase her campaign to become America's latest sweet hearted girl next door, though.
A film which keeps one eye on its targeted demographic at the expense of the staples like development and narrative urgency, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen sees Lohan playing Lola, a Greenwich Village boho girl whose life is turned upside down when her mom (Glenne Headley) decides to move the family to New Jersey. Of course, this doesn't best please our feisty heroine, who is more than a little put out by the fact that her new classmates are the very epitome of conservative, especially the ultra bitchy Carla (Megan Fox). Oh, but what's this? A subplot involving a rock star (Adam Garcia) and a nerdy new best friend? How convenient...
And in terms of polish and complexity, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen doesn't get a whole lot more difficult than that. Essentially a comedy of opposites with the theme of acceptance granted centre stage, Confessions of etc never really hides its brash intentions or ideals. As you might expect, the film wallows in hypocrisy at times - Lola's singularly ambitious attitude is at odds with the feel-good message of the movie. Still, it's a moot point. After all, if you're not an adolescent girl, there's not an awful lot to recommend here.

Review by Garreth Murphy