“Undiscovered” (Lion’s Gate Films)
When you have a movie and Ashlee Simpson is the best thing about it, you know you are in trouble. Especially when Ashlee only plays a supporting role as she does in “Undiscovered.” The “stars,” and I use that term very, very loosely, are Pell James and Steven Strait. I bet you are members of their fan clubs.
Strait plays Luke Falcon, an aspiring singer/songwriter who glimpses a woman on a subway. He is immediately smitten but doesn’t know her name or how to get in touch with her. That’s okay because later in his life he runs into her in LA and they start seeing each other. But then this woman named Brier Tucket (James) wants to help him get ahead with his career so she hires a sexy model (Shannyn Sossamon) to pretend to fall for him so he will get some publicity.
Later Carrie Fisher shows up playing an agent named Carrie, original huh She kind of mutters her lines and at least has the sense to look embarrassed. Not so Fisher Stevens, who plays a music producer. He plays his part like he’s trying for an Oscar. Oscar Meyer maybe.
Simpson plays Brier’s best friend and co-hort. She sings some songs in the film and does an okay job. But anyone who is even semi-talented stands out in this group. Suffice it to say James and Strait do not stand out.
This film is rated PG-13 for profanity and sexual situations.
If ever a movie deserved to go straight to DVD, “Undiscovered” is the one. It just doesn’t have any spark of originality or a truly interesting performance. It isn’t that it is terrible, it’s just that it isn’t very good. Terrible would mean you could make fun of it and have some fun.
Something tells me we won’t be seeing much of Pell James or Steven Strait in the future. They had their shot and didn’t manage to be discovered by the moviegoing public.
I scored “Undiscovered” an incognito 3 out of 10.
