Review No.150: LOL

It’s fair to say that the progression between child star and proper grown up actor is a perilous one though Kirsten Dunst and Natalie Portman have both managed it there have been others that are less successful. It’s now time to see if and how Miley Cyrus can make that progression haven grown up on screen in Hannah Montana she has recently been seen in increasingly saucier music videos as well as recently getting engaged to Liam Hemsworth. The first film I saw her in was the one in which she met Hemsworth, the laudable The Last Song, and know she’s back on the big screen in LOL an adaptation of a French film in which she plays the daughter of Demi Moore. Cyrus’ character Lola narrates the piece as she introduces her to her friends and her boyfriend Chad who she promptly splits up with after she finds out he cheated on her over the school summer holidays. Thankfully she has another hunky friend Kyle who has always been in her love with her and the two briefly have a fling though it seems she can’t keep a man for long after she believes  he’s had it off with the school ‘post-it’, so called because she sticks to anything, Ashley and in the girls toilets of all places. It seems a case of like mother like daughter as Moore’s Jane briefly reunites with the father of her children but finds out that he’s been seeing random women but luckily help is just around the corner in the form of a hunky copper. When Lola discovers that it was in fact her friend Emily who’d hooked up with their geeky friend in the bogs she forgives Kyle an act which coincides with a trip to France. On this trip everyone smokes pot, gets drunk before Lola pops her cherry to Kyle before he promptly ignores her when she gets back. There’s a lot of other stuff going on around the story of Lola and Jane including Emily’s infatuation with her improbably handsome maths teacher and Kyle’s stereotypically harsh father’s instance that he can’t carry on the rock band that he has with Chad. As you’d expect all of these storylines combine in a big battle of the bands finale as the parents and children learn that they’re not that different from each other.

LOL is definitely one of those films that I would stay right away from if I wasn’t doing something like this but sometimes you can’t always judge a book by its cover, or a movie by its poster in this case, however there was no pleasant surprise here as this Miley Cyrus vehicle was almost exactly what I was expecting. First off having Miley Cyrus narrate this film was a mistake as her voice is definitely not her best attribute, due to it being husky and manlike, and the sound of her voice detracts from the action every time. Secondly the acting from the teens is on the whole atrocious however they’re not given a lot to work with other than a basic outline of each character – virgin, slut, musician, bad boy, nerd, in love with teacher and random couple who don’t really do anything in fact I’d be happier if this was Cabin in the Woods so they could be picked off one by one. The film sells itself on being a representation of teenage life in the age of the internet however aside from a few scenes where instant messaging is used LOL is a traditional coming of age film with the Paris scenes in particular demonstrating this. The film’s one saving grace is Demi Moore who at the moment seems to be attempting a comeback although this seems like a step in the wrong direction after a standout performance as a ruthless banker in Margin Call. Here she tries to make Cyrus a better actress by association and there’s no doubt the scenes that feature the pair are some of the film’s best, better still are the ones in which Cyrus doesn’t feature at all, and I did feel Moore did a good job of portraying what life is like for a single mother. Generally though LOL plays to its demographic and seems to be a film about teenagers written by people who have long past their teens but instead seem to know how teens speak but suffice to say they don’t. Tween girls may enjoy it, don’t ask me why, but outside of Demi Moore’s gallant try to salvage the film there’s not much you can say in defence of this shoddy film. So in conclusion Cyrus’ first venture into cherry-popping territory is likel to sink without a trace I’m just hoping she has more in the pipeline to salvage her already flagging movie career.

Verdict: Terrible performances and unconvincing dialogue are slightly rescued by the reliable Demi Moore so due to her I’m going to be generous and award this 3/10