Three childhood friends make a pact and bury a time capsule containing an item each to represent their wish for the future. The pact is to dig up the capsule at midnight on the night of their graduation, but in the eight years between making the pact and graduating, they have drifted apart. Lucy (Britney Spears) is now the girlie swot - she has become the valedictorian and is still a virgin at 18. Kit (Zoe Saldana) is now the ever popular prom queen who has become engaged and Mimi (Taryn Manning) has become the rebellious trailer trash pregnant teen. How will they ever rekindle their friendship? Through certain circumstances that I won't go into, they all end up at the burial spot at midnight and uncover their childhood wishes. Mimi wanted to escape the town and see the world, Kit wanted to get married and Lucy wanted to become a singer (shock horror).
Mimi announces she is heading to LA for an audition and has secured a ride with Ben (Anson Mount), a guy she hardly knows. Through some more circumstances that I won't go into, the other girls decide to go on the road trip with Mimi, Kit to visit her fiance in LA and Lucy to find her mother who abandoned her at the age of three. The one other point to mention here is the car owner and driver Ben is also an ex-convict, the girls believing he had killed a man. Even taking this into account, they still get in a car with him and head west, no doubt they wouldn't have had he been ugly.
When the car breaks down the gang don't have enough money to pay for the repairs and continue to LA. The perfect plan is to perform in a karaoke contest in St Louis where you get paid in tips, if you are good the patrons put money in the jar, if you are bad they don't. As luck would have it, the girls are a hit and make not only enough money to fix the car but also to complete the trip and stay in much better accommodation than they had been (OK, hands up who was surprised). The trip is one of discovery, not only of their friendship but also their aspirations.
From the opening scene of Britney in her bedroom singing into a spoon to a Madonna song, this film is predictable. The concept of a road trip has been done to death, but when you throw in the three contrasting main characters, plus the love interest - you just know the outcome from about the fifth minute. The target market here is a little unclear, obviously it is aimed at the teenage girls that love Britney and this is accommodated through a barrage of Britney music. It is also aimed at teenage boys as Britney and the other girls spend a lot of time in underwear, pyjamas and midriff exposing outfits. Other issues are touched on such as teenage pregnancy, parental pressure and virginity, but to target all of these markets in the one film is a stretch at best. To be quite honest, this movie could quite easily have been given a PG13 rating had it not been for the pregnancy issues and such.
It's not a total disaster, though. The acting is reasonable, even from Britney and the accompanying music is also well placed, but it is the plot and script that make this film fail. There are numerous plot holes throughout and only the younger viewers will struggle to predict anything that is about to unfold. The talents of Dan Aykroyd (Ghostbusters, Blues Brothers) and Kim Cattrall (Sex and the City) are totally wasted and restricted by an inadequate script. Overall this is a mildly entertaining film that contains nothing new, it is simply a promotional tool for Miss Spears. The whole concept of this movie came about when Britney decided she would like to be in a film, so there should be no surprise when viewers see the excessive pandering to the leading lady.
Britney Spears has the looks, has the singing talent and has the world at her feet and for this many hate her. She proclaims that music is her passion and will always be her first love, so on the basis of this film it might be a good idea if she returns to recording music. It has achieved one thing to a degree, it has shown a more mature side of Spears, but that saccharine sweet image is still a little too much to stomach.
Prior to watching this film I must admit to having enjoyed quite a lot of the music Britney Spears has previously released and I also enjoyed the songs performed in this film. By the end of the film and after watching all the extras, however, I have succumbed to Britney overload. Sure, she may be as nice and grounded as all her employees keep saying she is and without doubt she is a talented singer, but this is just too much Britney for anyone over 16. So, if you just can't get enough of Britney then you will be more than happy, if you only have a minor interest in her, then watch this in small doses as the Britney marketing machine will take you over.
