LOL – Defined as ‘Laugh Out Loud’ in text-speech. Or, if used in the lower case – lol – to me looks like a stick figure head raising his arms as if cheering. Oddly enough It is also the name of a new movie with an Academy Award performance by Miley Cyrus…..lol….
So now that I’ve gotten the requisite ‘making fun of Miley’ out of the way, I can get down to the meat of the review of her new film… (say it with me) …. “LOL.” Miley Cyrus stars as Lola, a teenage girl embroiled in a coming of age tale fraught with the break-up of her relationship to her one true love and the awkward budding romance with her male best friend. Much of this is played out through the use of social media, hence the film’s title. It also stars Demi Moore as Lola’s divorced mother, who is going through her own romance and relationship foibles.
Getting into the plot of the film isn’t really necessary as it doesn’t really add much new to most of the formulaic ‘coming of age’ flicks out there. Suffice to say, you’ve seen it before… sometimes done better but certainly also done much worse. As far as teen angst movies go, it’s not a bad film at all, just not overtly memorable.
Cyrus has certainly had an interesting career, one that has made her family far wealthier than her nearly-as-famous father’s career a few seemingly short years ago. Her TV series appealed to young girls everywhere. Even my daughter got Miley Fever and I was forced to watch it with her on many occasions. Though silly as it was, I kind of enjoyed it. Why do I mention this? Because of where Cyrus’ talents lie and how that plays into this new film.
In the past, I found Cyrus to actually have a decent comedic sense of timing. It was still a bit raw in the series, but the subsequent Hannah Montana movie proved she was actually a pretty decent comedienne. Her slapstick antics would have made Lucille Ball proud. But in her move to more ‘serious’ roles, she is out of her depth. With time she might grow into a better actress, but she is definitely not there yet. A stronger performance in “LOL” might have made it a better film.
The Bluray release offers up what you should expect, which is a sharp image and nicely blended surround sound. Nothing to write home about however. In terms of special features, all ore pretty much on the fluffy side. You learn little about the production aside from how much everyone loved working with everyone else.
Teens and ‘tweens will eat this movie up. The rest of us might want to wait until it hits the bargain bins.
Directed by: Lisa Azuelos
Starring: Miley Cyrus, Demi Moore, Ashley Hinshaw, Ashley Greene, Thomas Jane, Jay Hernandez, Douglas Booth
Special Features: Commentary by Director Lisa Azuelos and Actors Ashley Hinshaw and Lina Esco; The Cast of LOL; “Like Mother Like Daughter; Lots of Love for Lisa Azuelos
Rated: PG-13
Studio: LionsGate
Website: http://www.lol-themovie.com/
