From Justin To Kelly [HD]

"You're the one playing games Kelly!"
Okay, I admit I rented this movie. Yes, I am properly shamed. But you know what? It's actually not that bad. Sure, it's silly, improbable, and goofy beyond all belief (the outfits alone...) but "From Justin to Kelly" is also surprisingly sweet and good natured. Our favorite ex-Idolers star as "Justin Bell" and "Kelly Taylor", two young adults in Florida on Spring Break. Justin is supposed to be a wild party boy, and Kelly is the down home girl from Texas (she is described at one point as "one bonnet short of Amish"). They meet, have an instant connection, and spend the whole movie overcoming various obstacles (mostly Kelly's evil best friend) before finally finding true love.

The big surprise here is how natural Clarkson and Guarini are on screen; they read their lines with assurance and ease. There is one good musical number, a couple of decent ones, and one really bad one. The songs are pleasant, and made better by Clarkson's beautiful...

decent dance routines, but as a whole not very good
A Film by Robert Iscove

I read a professional review (Owen Gleiberman, EW) of this movie that called From Justin to Kelly "Grease: The Next Generation acted out by the food court staff at Sea World." I previously had no intention of ever watching this movie but when I read that review I felt that I just had to see the movie, just to see if it could possibly be *that* bad. I'm not sure any movie could be quite as bad as Mr. Gleiberman thinks this one is, and to be honest, From Justin to Kelly is not that bad. Make no mistake about it, it isn't a good movie, but by no means is it as bad as what the food court staff at Sea World could do.

Here's the plot: Kelly (Kelly Clarkson) is a waitress in a bar in Texas. She and two of her friends drive out to Miami for Spring Break. Justin (Justin Guarini) and two of his friends are also heading out to Miami, both for some fun as well as to promote some parties and events there. Justin and Kelly meet and are interested in each other...

So bad that it's brilliant!
All I can say is wow. There were a total of 9 people in the theater. Three twosomes were seeing it as a joke, making fun of it as it went along. Then there were three people who were actually seeing it. Two of them walked out (not sure if it was because of us or the flick). Every time a person got up and left, the six fun people let out a "aw[...]"

As for the film...wow... I have never seen anything like it before. Because Justin and Kelly can't act, they made sure not to have any real actors that could upstage them in the movie. There wasnt a single drop of talent involved in any aspect. It was one of the most remarkable things i have ever seen.

And the songs??? They were worse than the script. They were mediocre rhymes repeated endlessly to mediocre beats. It made the music of Spears and Timberlake sound that Lennon and McCartney. Also, the song writers never learned how to write the ends of songs, so EVERY song just faded out during a chorus. I guess the director took a cue...

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