Movie Review: Undiscovered

Undiscovered

The team that made Undiscovered didn't spend a lot of money on production or on cast and crew. Yet it's a creditable effort by a largely inexperienced group that not only speaks well of itself, but offers much hope for things to come.

Brier Tucket (Pell James) is a model in New York City whose agent, Carrie (Carrie Fisher), is as much her friend as her boss. Luke Falcon (Steven Strait) is an aspiring singer and songwriter who, along with his brother Euan (Kip Pardue), is also living in the big city and trying to make it big. Luke has had less success than Brier, though, and he decides to try his luck on the opposite coast. As it happens, Luke actually meets Brier in passing on the subway just hours before he's scheduled to leave for LA. Luke, who thinks Brier is the most beautiful girl he's ever seen, complains to his brother that he sees the perfect girl just as he's ready to leave town. Euan offers little sympathy, though, and the two laugh as they bid each other a fond good-bye.

As Luke struggles to get recognition for his music in LA, Brier continues to enjoy some success as a model. But some many moths later, she tells Carrie that modeling isn't enough, that she'd like to try her hand at acting. Carrie isn't surprised — it's her contention that most models decide they want to act at some point — and she doesn't offer any resistance to Brier giving Hollywood a shot.

On her arrival in LA, Brier enrolls in acting classes where she meets an eclectic group of classmates including Clea (Ashlee Simpson) with whom she forms an immediate bond. After class, Clea takes her newfound friend to a local bar where a band she knows is performing. Of course, the lead singer of the band is Luke. Brier can't quite place him, but he looks familiar to her. Luke, however, recognizes Brier immediately. The two are introduced, but can only be friends thanks to Brier's dysfunctional relationship with rock star Mick Benson (Stephen Moyer). Still, she likes Luke, and together with Clea she cooks up a scheme to help Luke get discovered. The pair begin to create a "buzz" in LA about Luke and his band, and matters escalate even more quickly than the girls could have hoped.

The plan, in fact, works all too well, and Luke soon finds himself the object of attention from record producers and groupies alike. Brier, although she's brushed Luke off where romance is concerned, finds herself strangely jealous of Josie (Shannyn Sossamon), a Brazilian model who can't keep her hands off Luke. In the midst of the hype, Luke's brother shows up in LA where he's starting his own act. Things couldn't be better, but eventually, Luke's growing fame and changing attitudes cause problems for everyone, not least of all himself. And Brier's indecision and misplaced loyalties prove no small obstacle, either.

Steven Strait, who made his major film debut just this year as the villainous Warren Peace in Sky High, shows that performance was no fluke. The fact that he actually is the lead singer of a band (Tribe, which only recently landed a recording contract) gives a good deal of added credibility to his portrayal of Luke and enabled him to do all of his own singing for the movie. Pell James is okay, though I saw little chemistry between her and Strait. Kip Pardue is quite good as the older but less focused brother; Shannyn Sossaman and Stephen Moyer are also just fine. The true surprise in this movie is the performance by Ashlee Simpson. The clips I've seen of her older sister Jessica in various roles didn't convince me that she could act her way out of a wet paper bag. Her little sister, though, gives a decent performance here and appears to have the ability to get even better.

Undiscovered was directed by Meiert Avis, a man whose résumé to date consists solely of music videos. While that doubtless helped quite a bit during the performance scenes, it also apparently didn't hurt elsewhere. Sure, there were some awkward moments and some mediocre edits. But he did well in his debut efforts. And the script was also written by a first-timer by the name of John Galt. The storyline was predictable to a degree, but still largely interesting and with a few twists here and there to maintain the interest.

Undiscovered isn't perfect, but it's pretty good. It should result in more than a few of its participants getting discovered for themselves, and I genuinely hope it does. I'd definitely be inclined to take a look at more from almost any of them!

FAMILY SUITABILITY: Undiscovered is rated PG-13 for "sexual material including dialogue, partial nudity, [and] language, and drug content." That rating is probably about right. I suspect that teenage girls are going to love this movie not only because it involves romance, but because Steven Strait has model good looks (it shouldn't come as a surprise to you that he actually is a model turned actor). But there's plenty here for teenage boys, too, including a skateboarding bulldog which is absolutely not to be missed. Adults won't be as enamored of the story itself, but if you want to be among the first to see some people you're likely going to hear a lot more about in the future, Undiscovered is a film you ought to discover for yourself.