Two talented young people head to California looking for fame, but find love along the way in this romantic drama. Luke (Steven Strait) is a struggling rock musician who has decided to leave New York City for the seemingly greener pastures of Los Angeles. A few days before he leaves, he spots a beautiful girl on the subway who gives him a big smile, giving him brief second thoughts. However, Luke heads out to L.A. anyway, and after months of scuffling lands a gig -- and sees the beautiful girl,
Brier (Pell James), in the audience. Brier is an aspiring actress who, like Luke, came to L.A. to boost her career; she's taking acting classes at a well-respected workshop, and has landed a less-than-glamorous but lucrative deodorant commercial. Luke and Brier strike up a friendship, though it's obvious he's interested in something deeper; as Luke tries to score a record deal, Brier and her best friend Clea (Ashlee Simpson) try to spruce up his image and create some buzz about his music. But as Luke falls hard for Brier, she develops greater qualms about getting involved with a musician who will spend half his life on the road, and their shared desire for that big break may be the thing that keeps them apart. Undiscovered also stars Carrie Fisher, Kip Pardue, and Fisher Stevens. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Undiscovered feels more like a pilot for a glossy nighttime soap on Fox -- probably one that would be canceled midseason -- than a feature film with even a modicum of discernible originality or depth.
A PG-13 dramedy set in L.A. about some attractive, way-too-earnest aspiring stars has the potential to be a delectable good-bad favorite, but Undiscovered is nowhere near the guilty pleasure it could have been.
Undiscovered would like to think of itself as a gritty, documentary-style indie about hopefuls on the fringes of the industry, but it's more like one of those lame hair-metal bands that went out and bought flannel shirts after Nirvana hit it big.
Ashlee's better at acting and singing than her more famous sister Jessica, but that's no great feat; might as well add that she'd make a better brain surgeon, too.
The script is every bit as literate as the content you'd find a back issue of "Blender," with just as much eye candy to bolster the thin material. Too bad this candy is sour.
I didn't expect much going in, but this movie was not too bad. It just didn't work as a comedy, and I know exactly why: the music. The soulful, easy listening rock was so wildly inappropriate and just killed the funny. There were some really good comedic performances, most notably from Strait and Pardue, that would
have been hilarious under better music. They should have gotten the dude who did Arrested Development's music to score this. Once I realized the defect, I actually liked this movie. It really did get good near the end. The Ashlee Simpson factor kind of sabotaged this, but it's not unsalvageable. This flick is really not too bad.
I liked the songs and I especially liked the scene with the bulldog skateboarding, hehe. This was an ok movie about 2 aspiring artist trying to make it in the entertainment industry.
No quotes approved yet for Undiscovered. Logged in users can submit quotes.
Submit a Quote from 'Undiscovered'
A quote can be a single line from one character or a memorable dialog between several characters. Please make your quotes accurate. Quotes will be submitted for approval by the RT staff.
Example:
Luke: Alright. I'll give it a try. Yoda: No. Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.
Top Critic
