The Film
The High School Musical money machine is still going strong. While Zac Efron is out making serious movies and Vanessa Hudgens is riding the red-carpet wave of Sucker Punch, Ashley Tisdale is doing what she does best: appealing to the tween girl demographic.
In Picture This, Tisdale plays Mandy Gilbert, a cell phone girl in a cell phone world -- an annoying place filled with hellfire and girls with phones surgically implanted on their faces. Not really, but that would have been a way more entertaining movie.
Mandy is 18 going on 8, at least as far as her goofy, overbearing dad (Kevin Pollak) is concerned. For her birthday, Mandy gets the new super-cool videophone (duh), but soon loses it after she's caught in a little white lie (seriously... it's so nothing) and grounded. What ensues from there is a series of wacky whoppers, as Mandy fakes a study date during her quest to get to a night out with her childhood crush (Robbie Amell).
That said, Tisdale is cute, has decent some comedic timing, and makes this tech-heavy film semi-enjoyable. Overall, Picture This should please the tweens that are its target audience. Parents might want to leave the room, if not for the subject matter, then to hide their checkbooks.
The Picture
The picture for Picture This is pretty impressive, considering this was an ABC Family made-for-TV movie. There are plenty of popping colors, most notably in the girls' ever-changing outfits. Also, fleshtones are spot-on. The most disappointing part of the 1.78:1 transfer is that there isn't a whole lot of detail. Even in the film's many close-ups, it seems to be lacking that extra sharp sparkle.
The Sound
Picture This is a pretty typical rom-com, as far as the soundtrack goes. The film is dialogue-heavy, with much of the action sticking to the front three speakers. Also, like most rom-coms, this movie relies on a ton of pop music. The DTS-HD Master Audio track makes those songs stand out throughout the soundfield, all while sprinkling in a few background noises from the mall and school, as well as during the big "battle of the bands" crowd scene. It's nothing you'll remember, but it's more than satisfactory for this type of movie.
The Extras
Picture This has four different special features, which is pretty good, considering it's a made-for-TV movie. Unlike the typical featurettes, these tidbits are really geared towards the film's demographic. "The Making of Picture This" doesn't really focus on the actual production, but spends under 10 minutes recapping the movie with the various cast members talking about how they related to the script, how awesome the director was, and how much fun everyone had. "Cell Phone Confessions" is a series of eight snippets, where various cast members give away behind-the-scenes tidbits.
One unique feature is "GR8 Scene Specific Texting!," which offers three different scenes from the movie with two commentary options: Cool and the "grown up" Oblivious. Both offers quips via typing on screen, with Oblivious designed for those that don't have a text-to-English dictionary.
Final Thoughts
Its not reinventing the teen genre, but Picture This is light and nice to look at. Also, tween girls will enjoy seeing Tisdale step off the High School Musical stage and into a fun, tech-enhanced love story.
Product Details
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