Una star in periferia

Watching Stuck In The Suburbs I got the feeling that in the end all I saw was one long commercial for the multiple and myriad uses of the cellphone. And the uses seem to multiply monthly.

Danielle Panabaker is your average by Magic Kingdom standards teenage girl from the suburbs who finds her life sanitized and boring there. Not even the arrival of friend Brenda Song from New York seems to lift her spirits.

But then the arrival of pop singing star Taran Killem to Pannabaker's town to do a music video really lifts the whole town's teenage female population. Killem is the latest bubblegum sensation who is concerned that he will not have a career after this burst of popularity when the next teen idol arrives on the scene. Something I'm sure every one of them worries about. He'd like to do more meaningful songs and at least aim at having staying power like a Crosby or a Sinatra.

When they literally collide their cellphones exchange and since they both store all the meaningful and important things on those phones, their lives are irrevocably tangled. At least until the phones get back to their proper owners.

Stuck In The Suburbs is a pleasant enough 90 or so minutes from the Disney Studios and the cast performs well enough. But with technology being what it is, can you imagine the same kind of film done in the future when we have Star Trek like communicators, Tricorders, and transport devices?

It was a lot more interesting then I thought it was going to be. I loved the storyline, and I think it would be a lot of teenager's dreams to get something like this happen. It's a good film that shows you no matter what background you're from, you can always do what you want, so it's a nice positive message.

The acting is pretty good, despite it's a Disney film, though as usual the 'little annoying brother' character was unnecessary. Danielle Panabaker's acting was a little boring, but Ryan Belleville was brilliant, as was Brenda Song.

All in all, it was a good film, and I'd watch it over and over again! 7/10.

Brittany Aarons (Danielle Panabaker) is a squealing teenage girl living in the suburbs. She is in love with pop star Jordan Cahill (Taran Killam). Natasha Kwon-Schwartz (Brenda Song) is a new girl in school after a couple of years in Europe. Brittany is quickly attracted to Natasha's worldly life as she hides her Jordan Cahill love. Brittany accidentally switch phones with Jordan when Eddie (Ryan Belleville) drops the phone during Jordan's video shoot. The girls start to have a bit of fun with Jordan's phone.

There is some attempts at making fun of the unanimity and the lack of originality in the suburbs. There are good barbs that are wasted on this teen girl movie that is practicing exactly that. There is little originality or any interesting characters. Brenda Song is playing the cooler edgier girl which kind of says it all. She and Panabaker are fine as teen girls. Taran Killam is not a pop star and doesn't have that vibe. He's probably the biggest problem ... other than the constant squealing.

Okay at the end of the movie the girls are coming home from soccer, and they are all obviously friends.

Jordan is on the phone with Brittany, and the girls are excited to see their music video on the TV.

The girls got to dance in the video, i get that.. but can someone explain to me how come Eddie was the star of the video.

I thought it was Jordan's video to do?

If anyone could email me and explain the answer to this question that would be really great...

soccerhockeychick19@hotmail.com ~Nicole~

Despite being in his early twenties, Taran Killam's performance as Jordan Cahill feels oddly similar to fellow SNL alum Andy Samberg's Conner4Real (from "Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping"). Disney did Drew Seeley dirty-passing on him for the role of Jordan, only to cast him as the Front Desk Clerk.

"Stuck in the Suburbs" main strengths are the early aught nostalgia and the leading Disney girls-Danielle Panabaker and Brenda Song. The power fantasy premise of controlling a pop star's career might still be entertaining for younger viewers, but the plot runs dry before the end, resulting in multiple reflective montages.