Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen

Last updated

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen film poster.png
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Sara Sugarman
Screenplay by Gail Parent
Based on Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen
by Dyan Sheldon
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography Stephen H. Burum
Edited by Anita Brandt-Burgoyne
Music by Mark Mothersbaugh
Production
company
Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Release date
  • February 20, 2004 (2004-02-20)
Running time
85 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$15 million
Box office$33.3 million [1]

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen is a 2004 American teen musical comedy film directed by Sara Sugarman from a screenplay by Gail Parent, based on Dyan Sheldon's 1999 novel of the same name. It stars Lindsay Lohan as an aspiring teenage actress whose family moves from New York City to New Jersey, Adam Garcia as her favorite rock musician, Glenne Headly as her mother and Alison Pill as her best friend. The film introduced Megan Fox in her theatrical film acting debut.

Contents

The film was released on February 20, 2004, by Buena Vista Pictures. It received mostly negative critical reviews and grossed $33 million worldwide.

Plot

Narrator Mary Elizabeth "Lola" Cep is a 15-year-old girl who grew up in New York City and wants desperately to become a famous Broadway actress. Much to her annoyance, she moves with her family to the suburbs of Dellwood, New Jersey, but she confidently tells the audience, "A legend is about to be born. That legend would be me."

At school, Lola befriends an unpopular girl, Ella Gerard, who shares her love for the rock band Sidarthur. Lola idolizes the band's lead singer, Stu Wolff. She also meets Sam, a cute boy who takes a liking to her, and makes enemies with Carla Santini, the most popular girl in school.

When Lola auditions for the school play, a modernized musical version of Pygmalion called Eliza Rocks, she is chosen over Carla to play Eliza, and Carla promises to make her life miserable. Lola also beats Carla on a dancing video game at an arcade, whereupon Carla reveals that she has tickets to the farewell concert of Sidarthur, which recently decided to dissolve. Afraid of being one-upped by Carla, Lola falsely claims that she and Ella also have tickets. She loses her chance to buy tickets and new clothes when her mother takes away her allowance, and the concert is sold out by the time she persuades Ella to pay for the tickets. However, Lola explains that they can buy tickets from a scalper, and gets Sam to sneak Eliza's dress out of the costume room for her to wear at the concert.

On the night of the concert, Lola and Ella take a train to New York City, but Lola accidentally leaves the money for the tickets on the train, and her plan to sneak into the concert fails. Lola and Ella finally give up and walk through the city to Stu's after-show party. When they arrive there, Stu stumbles drunkenly out of the building and passes out in an alley. The two girls take him to a diner to sober him up, but when he hits a cop with a doughnut, the three of them end up at a police station, where Lola gives her father's New York City address.

At this point, Lola's dishonesty becomes problematic. When she first met Ella, she tried to impress her by telling her a dramatic story about her father dying years earlier. Ella highly values honesty, so she becomes infuriated when she discovers that Lola's story was a lie. After Lola's father arrives, and they explain what happened, Stu gratefully takes them all back to the party, where Ella forgives Lola for lying (on the condition that she will never lie to her again), and the two girls see Carla, who sees them as well, and looks upset. Lola talks with Stu about his work, but is disappointed to discover that he is an alcoholic.

Back at school, Carla humiliates Lola by denying that she saw Lola or Ella at the party and calling Lola a liar. None of the other students believes Lola's story about being arrested with Stu and leaving her necklace at his house.

Afterward, Lola goes home, depressed, and refuses to perform in the play, but encouraged by Ella to return, she arrives backstage just in time to prevent Carla from taking over her part. As she is about to go onstage, her mother wishes her good luck and finally calls her by her nickname, Lola. The modernist interpretation of Pygmalion (Eliza Rocks) ensues. After a great performance that brings a standing ovation, the cast goes to an after-party at Carla's house, where Stu arrives to see Lola. Carla attempts to salvage her pride by saying he is there to see her, but is proved wrong when Stu gives Lola her necklace in front of everyone. As Carla's lies become apparent, she backs away from the crowd on the verge of tears and falls into a fountain, greeted by everyone's laughter. In a conciliatory gesture, Lola helps her up, and Carla accepts defeat. After dancing with Stu, Lola dances with Sam, and they eventually kiss.

Cast

Production

Filming

Pre-production began on May 5, 2003, beginning with choreography rehearsals and make-up tests. Produced on a budget of $15 million, filming began on June 4. Behind the camera was Welsh director Sara Sugarman, who was known for directing the musical comedy film Very Annie Mary . While taking place in New Jersey, the film was filmed in the Canadian cities of Toronto, Hamilton, and Oakville. Scenes at Dellwood High School were filmed at King City Secondary School in King City and Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute in Scarborough. Mall scenes were filmed at Erin Mills Town Centre in Mississauga. Scenes depicting the family's move from New York to New Jersey were filmed in Hamilton. It was also filmed on-location for the scenes in New York City. Scenes involving the train station were filmed at the Watchung Avenue Train Station in Montclair, New Jersey, on New Jersey Transit's Montclair-Boonton Line.

Casting

Originally, the role of Lola was offered to Hilary Duff. After Duff backed out of the film, Lindsay Lohan was cast as Lola. "The part that stuck out to me most about the story was how different Lola is", Lohan said. "She's really interesting. As outgoing as she is, she keeps a lot in and I think it's really good to see how her character develops throughout the story." Producer Robert Shapiro said, "Lindsay Lohan is absolutely a 500-watt bulb. She's delightful to watch, she's a typical teenager, and she's very wise, and all of that comes across in the part of Lola."

Alison Pill, who was known for co-starring in the Judy Garland biopic Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows , was cast as Lola's best friend, Ella Gerard. "I think the attraction to play Ella is she changes so completely and goes through this huge transformation from being this girl who's terrified of being herself, and disappointing her parents, and disappointing their expectations, and at the end she says, 'I've just decided to be who I am.'" An unknown at the time, Megan Fox was cast as Carla Santini, Lola's nemesis (Brittany Gray played Fox's dance double). Eli Marienthal was cast as Sam, Lola's interest in high school and her friend. Marienthal had previously starred in Disney film The Country Bears . Glenne Headly was cast as Lola's mother, Karen, while Carol Kane was cast as Miss Baggoli, who directs the school's play. Tom McCamus appears as Lola's father, Calum, who is divorced from her mother and lives in New York City.

Reception

Box office

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen grossed $29.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $3.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $33.2 million. The film grossed $9.3 million in its opening weekend (February 20–22, 2004), finishing at number two behind 50 First Dates . [1]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 14% of 94 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 3.9/10.The website's consensus reads: "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen's superficial tendencies are unlikely to appeal to older viewers—though its colorful candor is decidedly not intended for them in the first place." [2] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 33 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews. [3] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.

Dennis Harvey of Variety magazine commented in his review that "Based on Dyan Sheldon's popular youth fiction, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen emerges a strained showcase for up-and-comer Lindsay Lohan as a sophisticated Big Apple teen unhappily relocated to New Jersey. Minimally funny comedy feels like a Disney Channel pic that got boosted to theatrical after Lohan scored a hit opposite Jamie Lee Curtis in the Freaky Friday remake. Nonetheless, it should have a lock on the 7- to 12-year-old female demo for a couple of weekends before finding longer tube/tape shelf life." [4] UltimateDisney.com reviewed the DVD, saying that it "doesn't garner a recommendation as a film, and its DVD special features are as breezy and shallow as the movie itself. Lindsay Lohan fans and teenage girls are bound to be the most interested, and they might well enjoy it on the surface as light entertainment. But for others, one viewing may be more than enough." [5]

Retrospective

In 2024, Clare Martin of Paste Magazine reexamined the movie for its 20th anniversary and stated it "may have the best portrayal of an adolescent girl's inner life—not the serious, lonely moments, but the vibrant fantasies that fuel crushes and obsessions of the moment" as the character of Lola "may be chided as a drama queen during the film, but her intense emotions reflect the reality of teenage interiority" and her "unabashed enthusiasm and, at times, ridiculousness are so contrary to our lives that it's no wonder that [the movie] was slated by movie critics (a profession historically dominated by men)." Calling it a "heightened predecessor" to the 2017 film Lady Bird and drawing comparisons to the lead character of the novel Anne of Green Gables , Lohan's performance is also praised for making "a character that could be grating in the wrong hands extremely fun to watch." [6] Rebecca Schriesheim of Collider dubbed it "one of the most underrated teen movies of the 2000s" and considered that it's overshadowed by Lohan's film Mean Girls from the same year. Lohan's and Fox's performances are applauded, with the former delivering "the captivating larger-than-life persona that skyrocketed her to fame," as well as the themes addressed in the story: "the comedy musical is made by women, for women. It's also an over-the-top satire examining how pop culture and the media portray teenage girls. The film claps back by embracing the drama with strong female leads, and rejoices in their theatrics." [7]

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released February 17, 2004, by Hollywood Records and features Lindsay Lohan, Lillix, Simple Plan, and various other artists.

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Garcia</span> Australian actor and tap dancer

Adam Garcia is an Australian stage, television, and film actor who is best known for lead roles in musicals such as Saturday Night Fever and Kiss Me, Kate. He is also a trained tap dancer and singer. Garcia has been nominated twice at the Laurence Olivier Awards in 1999 and 2013.

<i>Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen</i> (soundtrack) 2004 soundtrack album by various artists

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen is the soundtrack album to the 2004 film of the same name. The soundtrack featured songs by various artists. The film's lead actress Lindsay Lohan recorded four songs written for the film, including "Drama Queen ", that was promotionally released with an accompanying video on Disney in January of that year.

<i>Get a Clue</i> 2002 film

Get a Clue is a 2002 Disney Channel Original Movie starring Lindsay Lohan as Lexy Gold, a teenage high school student who investigates a mystery after one of her teachers goes missing. The film premiered on the Disney Channel on June 28, 2002. It was directed by Maggie Greenwald and was written by Alana Sanko.

<i>Freaky Friday</i> (2003 film) 2003 film by Mark Waters

Freaky Friday is a 2003 American fantasy comedy film directed by Mark Waters and written by Heather Hach and Leslie Dixon. Based on Mary Rodgers's 1972 novel of the same name, it is the third adaptation of the same story and fifth installment overall in the Freaky Friday franchise. It stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan as a mother and daughter, respectively, whose bodies are switched by a mysterious and magical Chinese fortune cookie.

<i>The Parent Trap</i> (1998 film) 1998 romantic comedy film directed by Nancy Meyers

The Parent Trap is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed and co-written by Nancy Meyers in her feature directorial debut, and produced and co-written by Charles Shyer. It is a remake of the 1961 film of the same name and an adaptation of Erich Kästner's 1949 German novel Lisa and Lottie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenne Headly</span> American actress (1955–2017)

Glenne Aimee Headly was an American actress. She was widely known for her roles in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Dick Tracy, and Mr. Holland's Opus. Headly received a Theatre World Award and four Joseph Jefferson Awards and was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards.

Ashley Leggat is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles as Casey McDonald in the Canadian family comedy series Life with Derek and as Tiffany in the MTV television film Made... The Movie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eli Marienthal</span> American actor

Eli David Marienthal is an American actor. He won the Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement for Voice Acting in a Feature Production for his vocal performance as Hogarth Hughes in the animated film The Iron Giant (1999).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">What R U Waiting 4</span> 2004 single by Tiffani Wood

"What R U Waiting 4" is a song originally performed by American actress and singer Lindsay Lohan, which was included on the Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen soundtrack in 2004; Australian singer-songwriter Tiffani Wood covered the song for her debut single, also released in 2004. The song was written by Matthew Gerrard, Bridget Benenate, and Steve Booker, whilst production was helmed by Tony Cvetkovski. "What R U Waiting 4" was Wood's first release following the disbandment of Australian girl group Bardot.

<i>The Parent Trap</i> (franchise) American family comedy film franchise

The Parent Trap franchise consists of American family-comedies, including the original theatrical film, three made-for-television sequel movies, and a theatrical legacy sequel/soft-remake. Based on the 1949 novel Lisa and Lottie by Erich Kästner, the plot centers around identical twin sisters, who were separated at birth and rediscover each other while attending summer camp. The pair trade places upon returning home, and devise a plan to bring their family back together.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lindsay Lohan</span> American actress and singer (born 1986)

Lindsay Dee Lohan is an American actress and singer. Born in New York City and raised on Long Island, Lohan was signed to Ford Models at age three. She appeared as a regular on the soap opera Another World at the age of 10, and her breakthrough came in the 1998 Walt Disney Pictures film The Parent Trap. The film's success led to appearances in subsequent Disney projects; the television films Life-Size (2000) and Get a Clue (2002) and the big-screen productions Freaky Friday (2003) and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004). Lohan's early work won her childhood stardom, while the teen comedy sleeper hit Mean Girls (2004) affirmed her status as a teen idol and established her as a leading Hollywood actress.

<i>Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen</i> (novel) 1999 book by Dyan Sheldon

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen is a young adult novel by Dyan Sheldon. Originally released in 1999 through Candlewick Press, it was later turned into a Disney motion picture of the same name in 2004 starring Lindsay Lohan and was made one of the ALA book picks for 2006. A sequel, My Perfect Life, was released in 2002.

Dyan Sheldon is an American novelist, who has written for adults, children and young adults. Originally from Brooklyn, she resides in London and has written a number of young adult novels as well as many picture books in a variety of genres. Her young adult science-fiction novel Perfect was published under the name "D. M. Quintano", as it was a departure from her usual style.

<i>Mean Girls</i> 2004 film by Mark Waters

Mean Girls is a 2004 American teen comedy film directed by Mark Waters and written by Tina Fey. It stars Lindsay Lohan, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert, and Amanda Seyfried. The film follows Cady Heron (Lohan), a naïve teenager who transfers to an American high school after years of homeschooling in Africa. Heron quickly befriends two outcasts, with the trio forming a plan to exact revenge on Regina George (McAdams), the leader of an envied clique known as the Plastics.

Arisa Ogasawara is a Japanese actress, voice actress, and narrator from Tokyo, Japan.

<i>My Scene Goes Hollywood: The Movie</i> 2005 American film

My Scene Goes Hollywood: The Movie is a 2005 American animated romantic comedy film based on Mattel's line of My Scene dolls. It features Barbie and American singer and actress Lindsay Lohan, who plays herself. It is the third feature with the My Scene characters, and the only one that was full-length. The film was directed by Eric Fogel. Although the title of the film suggests a trip to Hollywood, California, the entire plot takes place in New York City, where all the My Scene characters live. It was released by Buena Vista Home Entertainment under the Miramax Family label.

<i>Liz & Dick</i> 2012 biographical film

Liz & Dick is a 2012 American biographical drama television film chronicling the relationship of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. It was directed by Lloyd Kramer, written by Christopher Monger, and produced by Larry A. Thompson. The film stars Lindsay Lohan as Taylor and Grant Bowler as Burton. It premiered on Lifetime on November 25, 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lindsay Lohan on screen and stage</span>

American actress and singer Lindsay Lohan began her career as a child actor in the 1990s and has since appeared in numerous film and television projects among other productions. Lohan made her motion picture debut in Disney's commercially and critically successful remake of The Parent Trap (1998). She continued her acting career by appearing in a number of Disney films, including Freaky Friday (2003), which remains her highest-grossing film, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004) and Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005). Her first non-Disney film, Mean Girls (2004), became a massive success by grossing over $129 million worldwide and later became a cult classic. Lohan also did smaller, more mature roles in which she received positive reviews on her acting including A Prairie Home Companion (2005), Bobby (2006) and Chapter 27 (2007). Between 2006 and 2007, Lohan continued her career with leading roles in films like Just My Luck (2006), Georgia Rule (2007) and I Know Who Killed Me (2007). Lohan's career faced many interruptions from legal and personal troubles during the mid to late 2000s, with her acting work becoming more sporadic in the following decade. She then starred in Labor Pains (2009), Machete (2010), Liz & Dick (2012) and The Canyons (2013). She made her stage debut in the London West End production of Speed-the-Plow (2014). In 2022, Lohan signed a multi-picture deal with Netflix to star in her first major productions in over a decade, the romantic comedies Falling for Christmas (2022) and Irish Wish (2024).

Alessia Amendola is an Italian voice actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Personal life of Lindsay Lohan</span>

American actress and singer Lindsay Lohan has led a high-profile life since her youth as a child model and actress. Following commercial success and critical recognition, Lohan secured her status as a teen idol and received extensive media attention. Starting in 2007, Lohan's life became plagued by legal issues and battles with addiction which led to career setbacks. Her legal problems continued until 2015, the first time she had been probation-free in over eight years. Alongside her legal problems and addiction issues, including her multiple court-mandated rehabilitation stints, her turbulent family life and personal relationships have also been highly publicized and documented.

References

  1. 1 2 "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004)". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  2. ↑ "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved 2023-10-04. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  3. ↑ "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 2023-10-04.
  4. ↑ Harvey, Dennis (February 19, 2004). "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen". Variety . Retrieved 2021-06-13.
  5. ↑ "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen DVD Review". UltimateDisney.com.
  6. ↑ Martin, Clare (February 20, 2024). "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen's Exuberance Is Still Delightful 20 Years Later". Paste Magazine . Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  7. ↑ Schriesheim, Rebecca (March 26, 2024). "This Lindsay Lohan and Megan Fox Comedy Got Lost in 'Mean Girls' Shadow". Collider . Retrieved 2024-03-26.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.