Chasing Liberty

Starring: Mandy Moore, Mark Harmon, Anabella Sciorra, Matthew Goode, Jeremy Piven
Directed by: Andy Cadiff
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Box Office: $12,195,626
2004

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: The rebellous young daughter (Mandy Moore) of the President of the United States (Mark Harmon) takes a trip across Europe unbeknown by her parents (or so she thinks) with a guy she just met, but who is really a Secret Service agent (Matthew Goode) undercover. On the expedition, the two fall for each other, but the revelation of who he really is could jeopardize everything.

Review:

Tim: Chasing Liberty is a completely ridiculous movie. So much of the dialogue and plot is so far-fetched and unbelievable that you just feel absurd watching it. Making a movie like this is already so close to the line of awful films that you'd think the producers would handle it with some care... but you'd be wrong.

Mandy Moore proves here that she can make a pretty horrible film. She's capable of making decent films, but this is a new career low for her. She is unfunny and only adds to the ridiculous aura that surrounds every scene in the film. She acts as well as she can, but in the end, contributes to this terrible film.

To make matters worse, Chasing Liberty suffers from a overtly predictable plot. You can forsee every "twist" long before it comes and can easily figure out the entire film after the first five (taxing) minutes of the film.

As if things couldn't get any worse for the film, the casting of Mark Harmon as the President of the United States might be the most uninspired and worst choice of President of all time. He looks completely out of place throughout the film and would never, ever make a believable or decent President. The Chief Executive of the United States has been portrayed many times in film- by Harrison Ford, Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas, and many others. Mark Harmon could never even pretend to the President and I am insulted as an American in his casting. Shame, shame on the casting agents involved in this picture.

Chasing Liberty is a mess of a motion picture. Oh, and I thought I'd include this little tidbit in here for you movie trivia buffs- the skinnydipping scene with Mandy Moore- she used a double for the nude back shot. I don't know if that is incredibly smart of Moore, or only shows her utter lack of commitment and enthusiasm about this project. The one tiny shred of decency in this film comes fromthe performance of Matthew Goode. He is charming and likeable. Other than him and the occasional (very occasional) bright spot from Moore, this film is devoid of much of anything.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 3



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: A Walk to Remember, Saved, First Daughter, Air Force One, The American President, Deep Impact