Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004) User Reviews

Maybe likable for young girls

[rbverhoef · 4/10 · 3 May 2005]

'Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen' comes as a disappointment from Lindsay Lohan after the very funny 'Freaky Friday' and 'Mean Girls'. Here she plays Mary, naming herself Lola, a girl who leaves New York, the city she loves, and moves to New Jersey with her mother and two little sisters. At her new school she becomes friends with Ella (Alison Pill), mainly because they both like the same rock band, Sid Arthur. Lola is a nice person but lies too much because she wants to be liked. She seems very sure of herself, but we understand that is only on the surface. Since the school is where most of the story takes place we need a villain, another good looking girl named Carla (Mega Fox). Parts of the story involve the bad Sid Arthur breaking up, a last concert they will give in New York and Lola and Ella trying to get in. Carla will be there since her father is the lawyer that represents Sid Arthur. Other parts involve a school play where Lola is cast for the leading role and Carla only for a small supporting role.

I am not sure why this film was made, but I guess to show Lohan dancing, singing, being arrogant, learning her lesson, have a happy ending, do some more dancing and some more singing. It felt more like a Hilary Duff film and I was not surprised to learn the part of Lola was in fact offered to her first. No offense to Duff, but Lohan is a much better actress and has proved that in films with scripts so much more intelligent than this one. This one fits in a line with Duff films like 'A Cinderella Story' or 'Raise Your Voice', films where you can enjoy the good looking lady but nothing else. I hope Lohan's next film will have the wit of a 'Mean Girls' again. I even have hard time believing young teenage girls will enjoy this one. There are some moments for them to be funny I guess, but most of the time it is not. Not for male adults, not for teenage girls.

I like Lindsay Lohan, a lot actually, therefore I was able to finish this film. She does the best she can, basically proving she is too good for material like this. Without her I would have hated this film completely. Since most people will not like Lohan as much as I do I can honestly say you will probably hate this film too.

I really thought the movie could have been better.

[cadfile · 5/10 · 26 February 2004]

"Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen" is the story of Lola Cep, played by Lindsey Lohan, trying to fit into a new town and school after moving from New York. She wants to be an actress and she creates dramatic stories about her life and like some teen aged girls she gets over dramatic about the events happening around her. It is all part of her attempt to be more interesting.

I really thought the movie could have been better.

Lohan does a great job playing the "drama queen" and for the most part her character is believable.

Her new friend Ella, played by Alison Pill, is the nice rich girl while Carla, played by Megan Fox, is the nasty bitch rich girl and Lola's main nemesis.

I was in drama club in high school and those scenes did seem believable as the group is preparing for the school musical. In fact, one year, we had a freshman girl beat our the senior girl for the lead in our school play. That caused a lot of issues just like those shown in the film. Carol Kane's Miss Baggoli was a bit too loopy but my drama directors could be strange.

The problem was the story.

The main theme of the movie, as I saw it, was Lola building this fantasy world for her life, having it crash down as lie built upon lie does eventually, then comes redemption and she becomes a better person for it in the end. Lola learns she can be interesting just being herself.

That is a nice film in itself. Unfortunately, the filmmakers couldn't leave it alone and added an unneeded big city adventure for Lola and Ella. It is understandable since we need someway to have Lola's interesting fake life uncovered but it led to an unbelievable situation when she meets her rock star obsession. I kept expecting her and Ella to get into one zany scrape after another, but that didn't happen. If you are going to waste film shooting in the big city at least have something major happen.

The other issue was one of theme.

If the theme is that lying to make oneself interesting will bring retribution - in this case Lola's humiliation in front of her classmates, then the ending of the film didn't fit the theme. I guess it was just Disney's way of getting a happy ending but the stories Lola created were so huge it was not believable that she got what she wanted in the end. She turns out to be really no better than Carla, who gets what she wants because she thinks she deserves it.

Lola was far too lucky. A little realism would have been nice.

Lindsey Lohan showed a spark that could lead her to better roles. I really think that she could be a big star a few years from now. She shined in this movie and was by far the best part of it, bad script and all. I think years from now people will be saying "Hilary who?"

Personally I thought the most interesting supporting character was Calum Cep, Lola's dad, played by Tom McCamus. Those of us who watch sci-fi shows produced in Canada may know McCamus from his role as Mason Eckhart on the "Mutant X" television series.

One of Lindsay's weaker films...

[dovercourtnews · 4/10 · 11 April 2013]

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen looks like a very over-produced film (every scene features loud bright colours, neon lights, heavy costume design..etc)and the scene where Lola and Carla (Megan Fox) are sitting in the auditorium features heavy blurring, thereby making the scene a tad jarring. I did think that Lohan, Garcia and Kane gave solid performances even if the latter two didn't get as much screen time.

The film is far from the worst ever made, but it is definitely one of Lohan's weaker films, especially compared to the likes of "Freaky Friday" and "Mean girls". I don't think the film is terrible per say just a little boring and very predictable. It was clearly a good children's book, just not compelling enough a story for filming. One for younger girls I'm afraid.

Entertaining and light hearted

[lankedy · 1 September 2004]

I myself am a teenager and took my 10 year old sister to see this movie. I won't say much as to not ruin the movie for those who have not seen it but i will give my opinion on the mood of the film and such.

If you want to see this, don't expect a deep and meaningful (or realistic) outlook on highschool life because it is your everyday teen/highschool comedy with the over-used storyline of new girl vs popular girl then new girl gets the guy and brings popular girl down.

On a better note, Lohan's character, "Lola" was an entertaining one and i enjoyed watching her over-exaggerated perspective of things. I must admit that the set up of Lola's room and the way their family lived and the clothes Lola wore were inspiring. I don't know if this is going to be the case for everyone (haha) but i know that point of the movie made it all worthwhile for me.

I'd recommend taking a younger sister/cousin/friend between about 6-12. Remember, sometimes we need a silly movie!

Lindsay Lohan is the only good part

[christian123 · 3/10 · 14 November 2004]

Lindsay Lohan plays Lola, a hip Greenwich Village teenager who moves to a new school in a Jersey suburb, where she faces Carla Santini, a girl claiming to be the most popular girl at her school, a title that Lola must have no matter what. After trying to nab the lead role in the school play, the competition between the two girls culminates at a sold-out concert by Lola's favorite band that Carla conveniently has tickets to see.

The previews made the film seem boring and for the most part it is. There's not really a story and it's hard to tell what the real intentions of the film are. There were a bunch of little stories but none of them really went anywhere. I know this film is directed towards teenage girls but they deserve better films than this. The movie was just so lame and unfunny. The whole clumsy girl act is really getting old and it wasn't really funny to begin with anyways. They were trying really hard for laughs and it just wasn't working. There were just a few small chuckles and that's it. The only reason why someone should watch this is because of Lindsay Lohan. She actually gives an entertaining performance and she saves the film from being really bad.

Sarah Sugarman does a terrible job at directing. She doesn't have one clear idea for a story, just a bunch of random scenes put together. It was pretty much just Lindsay Lohan running around all over the place. Lohan doesn't really get support from the rest of the cast since they all decide to phone in their performances. The film is also very unrealistic and it sends a bad message out to kids. For example, two thirteen (or fourteen) year old girls wouldn't go to a concert in New York and depend on a scalper to give them tickets. Then they have this scene where the two girls are in the bedroom of Sid Arthur having a pillow fight while there's a party (thrown by a rock star) going on downstairs. It was just completely stupid and unrealistic. The ending is also pretty bad since it randomly ends with Lohan kissing Sam even though they hardly focused on this romantic subplot. This film was just an uneven, unfunny mess. In the end, Lindsay Lohan is the only reason to watch this and it's really just for die hard fans. Rating 3/10

The title had so much potential...

[themarina1 · 5/10 · 3 August 2004]

And then the movie happened. I have a soft spot for quirky teenage geared movies and this looked like another I would thoroughly enjoy but, no luck.

The movie follows "Lola", played by Lindsay Lohan, a quirky, overactive imagination teenager who is transplanted from New York to New Jersey. The story and character had lots of potential but most of it was lost on a mediocre story line that only took baby attempts at using the potentially hilarious characters. As talented as she may be, Lohan had no chance to rescue this movie.

Disappointing, this movie left lots to be desired and much story potential to be developed. I would not be surprised if there's a spin off in a year or so.

5/10 It is a good watch for the pre-teen in the family!

What a terrible, TERRIBLE movie.

[PurplePanther · 1/10 · 29 May 2005]

This is the saddest excuse for a film I have ever seen! What a piece of crap! This film has no plot at all. It can't decide if it's about a school play, two girls wanting to meet a rock star, or a teenager overcoming her urge to lie compulsively. I would have been more entertained watching a dog take a dump. This movie is utter garbage and should never see the light of day again. First off, the main character seems to be more of an antagonist than the real antagonist is. How is an audience member supposed to sympathize with a selfish, obsessive, ignorant liar? Lola goes throughout the movie doing nothing but complaining and lying while her only friend puts up with it. Carla, her enemy, is more likable than her. And that's the truth. The romantic interest is barely in the movie at all. It's like "Hey, you were in this movie for like ten minutes, right? What's your name again? Let's end the movie with us kissing". It's was idiotic. This is a comedy that isn't. Please do not waste your time or your money, this film is movie vomit.

People are waiting to sparkle... I mean, puke

[mooveeguy · 1/10 · 31 August 2004]

This film is the embodiment of everything I hate. Loathe, hate, abhor, detest, and despise. It gives us the perspective of a vapid teenage girl we're supposed to like, pitted against the mean-spiritedness of her even more vapid, less likable, tormentor. An hour and a half of whining and cat-fighting is tidied up at film's end with a gesture as shallow as the fountain into which one of the characters falls. What could have been a good satire turns out to be a warm, fuzzy hug toward every grating detail of spoiled-brat life that should have been its target. The performances are almost uniformly terrible (Lohan should have played the rich snob, for starters), and the film's rock-musical adaptation of PYGMALION (yes, you read that correctly) is one of the more painful things I've ever had to sit through. This is the rare film that can be described as literally headache-inducing. It gives me new appreciation for THE LIZZIE MCGUIRE MOVIE, which is a bad film, but whose star now looks like a beacon of modesty and talent compared to Lohan in this make-me-a-star-now vehicle. (1/10) (* out of ****) (Grade: F)

a teenage girl moves to a different city so she tries to make her life more interesting

[monikute · 5/10 · 31 October 2005]

I am 15 years old and i've had to watch the film at least 3 times to like it. Lindsay Lohan stars as this Lola (she makes up her name because she doesn't like hers, Mary). She moves from new York to Dellwood which is hard for every teenage girl when you have to move. She has to find friends and fit into her school. She also acts as though she can get anything she wants and she also likes to lie a lot about things that aren't real like the fact that her dad is dead just to fit into her school. How pathetic!!!! and also the movie is made very unrealistic because a famous pop star, Sid Arthur, would not just come to your house to give you your lost necklace!!! its too unbelievable. however, the story is based on going out after what you believe and in Lola's case it's going to this concert to see Sid Arthur perform for the last time. every teenage girl now and then has a crush on a famous pop star and film star and if you do collect all their singles and albums you would want to go and see them in their last concert. i don't think the bits such as Ms Magolie going into the drama room looking for something is as realistic or the cartoon bits with her mum dressed in pink and her dad hitting the pizza truck. also Lindsay Lohan's dress sense to school is way lame, you would never go dressed like that to a school. and another thing is Lola is meant to be 15 but looks like a 19 year old!!! over all i think the film deserves 5/10 and that is only because it's got great songs and dances.

Definitely for it's Target demographic but successful at that

[Robert_duder · 7/10 · 10 April 2006]

Confessions is not Mean Girls and it's not Get A Clue (both Lohan vehicles) it sits somewhere in the middle of those two and aims for a very, very specific crowd and definitely hits that mark. Pre-Teen/early teen girls will likely adore Lohan's over-exaggerated quest to be the best against the equally exaggerated school popular girl, her shy and scared friend and their over protective parents. It's just cute and a little bit funny and way, way over the top (hence drama queen) but I think most adults or older teens will likely find it a little bit corny and overdone.

Lohan continues her contract of Disney films and unfortunately for her she fits the Disney Queen role nearly perfectly. She's not a bad actress, in fact she plays her roles as the girl next door quite convincingly and girls probably relate to her characters. In Confessions her character Lola/Mary has plenty of flaws. She's an exaggerator of the most extreme kind, flamboyant, dramatic and charismatic and Lohan easily pulls it all off and looks great while doing it. Alison Pill plays her newfound best friend Ella. While complete opposites the girls find a way to bond and both learn a lot from each other. Pill is great as the self conscious, nervous, friend who balances out Lola's dramatics. Veteran comedienne Carol Kane gives a stand out performance as hilarious and very stressed out drama teacher, Miss Baggoli. She definitely delivers the more mature comedy in the film although still slapstick. Adam Garcia who, since seeing him as the lead male in Coyete Ugly, I always thought would do well plays the object of Lola's obsessions and the lead singer of her favorite band Sidarther. Garcia also does comedy very well and is a great leading man better than the completely tacked on and mostly useless romantic interest Sam. They barely use him other than the small favors he pulls off for Lola and then in the end they tack on their getting together. Glenne Headly also deserves mention as Lola's free spirited artistic mother who has some good mother like comedy scenes playing opposite her drama queen. We also can't forget the mean girl herself Megan Fox who plays the arch nemesis "popular, beautiful girl" who always ends up getting hers in the end. The role itself is pretty stereo typical so any actress wouldn't need to struggle much to pull it off but certainly Fox's portrayal of Carla Santini is especially vengeful and she makes it fun to watch Lohan get the better of her. She easily encompasses all the skinny little mean girls from High School that we all knew and despised.

The film is cute and mostly typical as Disney films go with the obligatory lesson learning, and everything turning out A-Okay and also the lead character getting everything she could possibly hope for and there is nothing wrong with that at all. Films with such a positive outlook are fun and definitely not a let down and I also think really good for girls. The message is nice and the female characters are strong and that's always good. At times it's a little flaky and a big stretch from reality with it's rather odd dream sequences and imaginary mind moments of Lola but it's watchable and not too cutesy to bare. It's not Lohan's best but far from her worst and it will likely be one of her better known roles right behind Mean Girls. If you've seen Mean Girls this would be worth seeing. 7/10

this movie teaches young girls...

[MLDinTN · 4/10 · 20 January 2005]

to lie and sneak around to get what they want. That is basically what Lola does and urges Ella to do in order to get to do things that her mom won't let her. I didn't think it was very cute, and it makes all the pretty girls at school out to be b*itches, and that includes Lohan's character, Lola. She really wasn't that nice and felt she had to brag to be popular in school. And it wasn't very funny. It felt very childish, almost like the target audience was 7 year old girls. You could definitely tell it was a Disney film. And to be aimed for young kids, they have Lola looking to be with a much older guy, and they have him drunk most of the time he's in the film. And they have Lola and her friend running around NY city be themselves. Those aren't exactly the things you want to show your 7 year old is the proper thing to do.

FINAL VERDICT: Not very good. Don't watch it if you are over 10.

Worth the Wait

[v0dchey · 10/10 · 22 February 2004]

Critics trashed the movie; but, then again, critics are probably mostly 40-year-old men, and I can see how people like that would not appreciate this film.

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, all together, was a well-put film that truly entertained me (and just about everyone else in the theatre). No, I'm not a "tween," I'm a teen who appreciates well-written, well-cast, and well-acted films. This comedy had its moments that tickled my funny bone, and Lindsay Lohan (Lola) shined through brilliantly. While her performances constantly amaze me, I was baffled by how truly talented she was in this film; she captured her character like no other actress could. Besides being humorous, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen also managed to make me tear a little bit, as Lola's and Ella's friendship was shown. The story develops perfectly, and the cast is presented just as well.

All in all, I give this move a 9/10 (the small cartoon bits threw me off just a little)

4.3??? Personally I didn't think it was that bad a film!

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 9 June 2009]

Lindsay Lohan does give a very entertaining performance as Lola, a girl who moves to New Jersey, and the film really starts from there. I liked the locations and the costumes, really I did, and I am 17. Lindsay's co-stars don't do too bad a job either, and I liked the soundtrack. I liked the fact that Lindsay sang, and I liked the update of Pygmalion. However, the film does have a number of failings. Like a number of people, I wasn't too keen on Sara Sugarman's directing, it seemed more like just do what you normally do and we'll capture it on screen. The script was also very clichéd and predictable, likewise with the plot. I don't think the film's rather long length gave it justice either. Overall, not as bad as some people have said, but far from the chick-flick masterpiece it yearned to be. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Not funny and slightly annoying

[SnoopyStyle · 4/10 · 3 August 2014]

Mary Elizabeth Steppe (Lindsay Lohan) is moving out of NYC kicking and whining into Dellwood, New Jersey. She lives with her mother Karen (Glenne Headly) and her younger twin sisters. She idolizes rock band Sidarthur insisting everyone should call her Lola. She makes quick friend with outsider and fellow Sidarthur fan Ella Gerard (Alison Pill). She also makes quick enemy with mean girl Carla Santini (Megan Fox). They compete for the lead in school adaptation of Pygmalion and Lola gets the lead. Leader of Sidarthur Stu Wolf (Adam Garcia) is leaving the band and there is a farewell concert/party in the city. Carla's father is their lawyer and has connections. Lola lies about her connections. Lola and Ella sneak out to NYC and have themselves a crazy adventure.

This is all very superficial. Even as it calls out the superficiality of it all, it does so superficially. It's not smart enough to dig any deeper. It's all flashy, cutesy, and has the silly imagined sequences. It's a glitter-filled view of teen girl drama done badly. Everything is over-dramatized by Lola as indicated by the title which gets a little bit tiresome. It's just not that funny and slightly annoying.

Fluff And Nonsense

[movieratings03 · 25 May 2006]

CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE DRAMA QUEEN ** A lot of fluff and nonsense. It's about a spirited teen who moves from New York City to a dull suburb in New Jersey and faces difficulty when she enters into a new school. One of her pupils has the Most Popular Girl title that she strives to have (after all, she IS a Drama Queen!), so she takes the lead role in a school play to attain the title. The shallow screenplay is so full of holes one wonders how it managed to hold its own at the box office. Production designer Leslie MacDonald and costume designer David C. Robinson have a field day making this rather trivial production visually rich.

Somebody Needs to Confess

[jimmylee-1 · 5/10 · 25 September 2006]

Here's another one for my secondary category of movies: the movies you watch when you just had your teeth drilled so you can't laugh out loud or think too hard because of the Tylenol with codeine the dentist thankfully prescribed. Wait; even then, this movie would be stupid.

OK, credit to the writers taking the flip side to the nerd-in-the-new-school story. Lindsay Lohen, apparently applying herself to this one, manages to play the drama queen with flair, if not gusto (perhaps offering some insight into her personal psyche). Glenne Headly, who I'm ashamed to say I haven't noticed since Disney's overblown Dick Tracy, did a great job as the long-suffering, seen-it-all, mom, perfect for the movie. Allison Pill was great as Ella, although I'm not sure the character she played would have ever really stood up to Lola, regardless of circumstances. It was good to see Carol Kane on the screen - and Adam Garcia; up until HBO, I'm not sure we saw enough of him.

But even the cast members can't save this movie. The scenario is so very unlikely. Silly self-centered new girl changes name at school (really, how many high school teachers would cater to that whim?) and creates rivalry with reigning popular queen (like any new girl takes that first step. Even the biggest idiot on the planet professes undying love and Best Friends Forever with the most popular girl in school to get into the best parties). Meanwhile, artistic mommy continues to remain true to herself, selling enough pottery so each child can have a room in their home in the 'burbs (the suburbs are just riotous with successful potters). Daddy is a famous dog cartoonist, but apparently pays no alimony. Daughter pretends Daddy is dead instead of using Daddy's famous standing to gain in popularity (right, as if the normal new-to-town girl wouldn't be flashing the dog on day two).

Then, rock band leader meets silly spoiled girl (like that's going to happen) at the band's party (ditto) and, after a 15-minute drunken conversation, is persuaded to give up alcohol forever instead of swearing off teenage girls forever (the natural impulse after this movie). Current snobbish popularity queen is put in her place forever (OK, news flash: that NEVER happens in real life. Only with a great deal of luck will you see her at the 25-year reunion and hear that she has divorced the football quarterback and been stuck living with her parents in your backwater home town. Usually she's become a fitness instructor to the stars and is engaged to a fabulously wealthy stunt man while you've spent 10 years trying to get rid of stubborn belly fat) and our heroine is benevolent forever (she was a bit mercurial before, but I'm sure she'll have real focus now) from her new throne.

I thankfully watched this on one of the premium channels, so when the girls misplaced their tickets for The Concert, I could at least change the channel rather than endure their amazing stupidity further. If my nieces behaved this way, I would have to send them to a remedial school for elementary purse carrying.

Maybe this movie was great for teenage girls, but I found it to be silly set to a good soundtrack. (Just goes to show how close you can come to saving a really crummy flick with good music. John Belushi was right.) It was the soundtrack that kept me watching, not the acting or the storyline - the story was just embarrassing.

Hindsight irony

[djm20 · 4/10 · 6 June 2010]

This is an OK teen flick and Lohan carries it decently enough on her talented shoulders. She is a movie star in the best of Hollywood traditions: multi-talented, photogenic (the Marilyn Monroe scene is striking) and underneath all that surface, a complicated personal life. The irony is not at all lost when Lohan's character, who finally gets her moments alone with the worshiped rock star, discovers that he is a drunk, says so out loud in repulsion. One wonders if a young teen boy, finding Lohan alone and inebriated in a bar booth would not make the same observation.

The saddest thing about these young, talented stars who sparkle so brightly in their youth and then set towards a trajectory that can only have them fall hard to the earth, is that it happens with such regularity and predictability. They take their talent and success for granted and, when it is lost, it usually is lost for good.

I hope Lohan finds a fan who is as honest with her and, as in this movie, as with the rock star, is touched and recovers her balance and stability and we, as audience, gain the benefits that her promise demonstrated in these bubble gum movies.

Had promise but did not deliver.

[gnosis1 · 5/10 · 6 March 2004]

The movie was well acted, the scenes where they show how much of a 'drama queen' the main actress is were entertaining and different. Unfortunately, while the dialog was good, the direction and story were a bit lacking. I blame the director for not delivering a great movie with the potential he had to work with.

I feel if they would have taken her 'drama queen' antics a step further, perhaps emphasizing it a bit more, the film would have been much more entertaining. As is, it is kind of boring and poorly paced.

A good idea gone bad. Thanks for trying though. 5/10

One of the worst movies of 2004

[uglygelly · 2/10 · 26 July 2004]

This long titled movie is the type of annoyance that should've gone straight to video because it was so bad. I couldn't believe how bad Lindsay Lohan was in this after she made some good efforts in movies such as "The Parent Trap", "Freaky Friday", and my current favorite, "Mean Girls". "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen" is one of her lamer efforts, and so far it's the worst movie I've seen this year.

While watching this garbage, I asked myself. "What the hell is this movie about?" It's about nothing. There's no conflict at all or anything that will keep the audience guessing. Its utter nonsense and its about a girl named Lola that moves to New York, goes to a new school, tries to get the lead role in her school play while finding out that her favorite band is breaking up. No conflict=no fun. This was a pretty selfish movie that didn't even try to make it appeal for all ages and genders; all it cared about was its target audience, which is young preteen girls. The supporting actors showed no signs of a promising career and they made these characters even more obnoxious because these type of people don't exist. Everything is depicted in a very lazy and fake way.

These type of movies are not suppose to be boring, they're suppose to be fun for anyone. I've recommended many movies that might not appeal to men like A Little Princess and Mean Girls but 'Drama Queen' is NOT for us. There wasn't one moment in where I was laughing. I didn't like how the director depicted the streets of New York as if they were happy and vibrant by adding neon colored trash bags and some other redundant material. There were many off-putting plot-holes that young girls might not become aware of but anyone who's seen many movies will of course notice many flaws in this. My little sister liked this movie and she has seen it 3 times now. She's crazy, I guess it was because of all the bright colors and costumes worn by Lindsay Lohan and maybe she liked the musical finale as well, which was the worst part of the movie, in my opinion. I don't recommend this to anyone, not even little girls. There are better movies than this on the Disney Channel and that's saying that this movie is infact TERRIBLE because movies on the Disney channel are often bad as well, but not as bad as this.

2/10

Confessions of a Viewer Who Hated This Movie.

[MovieAddict2016 · 2/10 · 28 July 2006]

I generally don't berate films here on IMDb that I don't think deserve a thorough bashing. When rating movies I usually take into consideration their genre, audience demographic and such. For example, judging a standard family movie like "Madagascar" against some type of epic adult feature such as "The Godfather" would be ridiculous - different genre, different crowd, different goal as a movie.

But "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen" doesn't even stack up against other family films of its kind. It's equally insulting for children and adults alike. On one level it begs to be some type of satirical comment on drama queens and materialism, but that's EXACTLY what the film falls victim to - its lead character, played by the despicable Lindsay Lohan, is a trashy drama queen who apparently spends all her free time lusting after a hunky teen icon. And just knowing about Lohan's drama queen antics in real life makes this character seem just a little bit too realistic. She's supposed to be the heroine of this film, but after five minutes I already hated her. And I'm not a prepossessed Lohan basher - I enjoyed her performance (or, rather, performances) in the Parent Trap remake - but she is just completely irritating here.

The plot line is borderline idiotic and a very generic run-of-the-mill pre-teen flick: a rich brat has to move to a new place and leave all her friends behind, but the twist here - ARE YOU READY FOR IT?? Because it's an absolutely brilliant one - anyway, the twist here is that...get ready for it...she's a DRAMA QUEEN! Haha! Somebody give the screenwriter who came up with this concept a few million, because that's absolutely brilliant. As if any other character in a flick like this isn't already dramatic enough - making the character a drama queen just makes her consistent whining even all the MORE enjoyable! (Not.) I really came away hating this movie. It left me with a bad feeling in my gut. There's something kind of sleazy and insulting about it. It's supposed to appeal to our daughters, but I don't think I'd want any daughter of mine looking up to Lindsay Lohan - especially in a role like THIS - as any type of role model. Maybe it's just me but I feel no sympathy for a character as unlikeable as the one in this movie. Sorry, Ms. Lohan.

Lindsay Lohan Carries Drama Queen

[CitizenCaine · 6/10 · 22 December 2004]

Lindsay Lohan is back as Lola, a self-obsessed teen girl masquerading as a sophisticated Bohemian type. Glenne Headly, as Lola's mother Karen, is responsible for moving her budding teenage actress daughter Lola from the trendy, exciting New York City to Dellwood, New Jersey. Notice how close Dellwood is to dull. Lola and her new friend Ella, played by Alison Pill, are busy trying to dethrone teen hottie Megan Fox at the local high school. Along the way, they have the typical teenage girl drama and get to go to a cool after hours band party of Lola's favorite band. In true teen girl fashion, important lessons are learned about friendship and being popular. While the movie is very typical for its genre and not particularly inspired, Lindsay Lohan brings energy and her unique brand of charm and talent to it. Several known actors appear in lesser roles: Sheila McCarthy and Tom McCamus among them. The film is made watchable by Lindsay Lohan only; she also sings several songs, including the title track. **1/2 of 4 stars.

"Confessions" is like a stale 90-minute sitcom

[ll-world · 4/10 · 20 February 2004]

Coming off an extremely successful performance in the summer hit Freaky Friday, Lindsay Lohan does her best to save the flat and unimpressive script of Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen.

Lohan stars as Lola, a teenage Manhattan girl whose dream is to become a famous actress. However, when she moves to a suburban New Jersey town she realizes that her chances of being famous are pretty much zero.

Competing for popularity in her new school with Carla (Megan Fox), she stumbles through life in an almost-klutzy yet largely unfunny way.

The entire movie is like a 90-minute sitcom -- it packs a few laughs but there is never a genuinely funny scene. The humour is based on clumsiness and stupidity rather than wit. In other words, it's comprised of people making fools out of themselves.

There is also a huge gap between the beginning and the end of the movie. There are so many happenings in between it's easy to lose track of the whole point of the film.

Also, many of the characters exist simply for the sake of existing. For example, the roles of Andrew, Lola's father and twin sisters don't serve a lot of purpose to the actual story. It wouldn't hurt if one or more of those characters were cut from the story, to save us some time and grief. Their roles are so tiny they're not really worth mentioning at all.

The ending is pretty cliche-ish as well. Like a lot of Disney movies, it preaches friendship, change for the better, love, etc. However, Confessions does a pretty bad job of it. It's pretty obvious that these are the lessons the movie is supposed to teach; they make it so obvious there is no explanation needed. An explanation IS added, however, in an attempt to simplify things further. But all this does is to add more unnecessary time to the overall product.

Confessions does have some positive points though. The music isn't too bad, even though they may have overused the "Uh-Oh" song by putting it in three different scenes. The acting in general by Lindsay Lohan and her co-stars is extremely good, but it's not enough to save this stinker.

BOTTOM LINE: 1.5 stars out of 4

Strangely Satisfying Cotton Candy Fluff

[jenc99 · 10/10 · 16 September 2004]

I am a 31 year old mom on maternity leave who feels like she has seen every movie both new and old available on satellite in the last 3 months, and I have a 'confession' of my own to make: 'Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen' was one of the best movies I have seen during this past summer*. No, it's not high drama. No, there's no big stars (although after one viewing, we can all agree that Miss Lohan will be). But there is something strangely satisfying about this cotton candy fluff of a movie.

Of course, as mentioned, there's Lohan, a true triple threat: she can dance, she can sing, and, yes, she *can* act. Hey, do you see anyone else in her peer group not only pulling off this role, but SHINING in it--the girl practically GLOWS--the way Lohan does?! She's perfectly charming, but not syrup-y sick-y sweet, as I can imagine this character would have become in the hands of Mandy Moore or Hilary Duff. No, there's some kind of an 'edge' there with Lohan; nothing you can quite put your finger on, just 'star' power, I guess (and the 'killer bod', as we said back in my day, doesn't hurt either of course).

But it's not just Lohan. Every detail of the movie is 'flufftacular,' from the casting (notables: the 'dork' sidekick best friend, the cutie-patootie guy friend/crush, the rich-bitch popular girl, the wacky drama teacher) to the costumes (the high school girl's version of Sarah Jessica Parker's if-only-I-had-the-guts-to-wear-that wardrobe) to the soundtrack (Atomic Kitten, Simple Plan, Lillix, Wakefield, and tracks by Lohan herself that I guarantee you'll be humming). The movie is a sensory overload of eye and ear candy.

So, sure 'Confessions...' is 100% cotton candy fluff. But when fluff is done 100% spot-on, well, sorry all you movie 'snobs' out there, but, MMM,MMMMMM, it's fluff that eats like a meal!

* Just FYI, other stuff I've enjoyed this summer, in no particular order: Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and 2; 28 Days Later; Fubar; Laws of Attraction; The Butterfly Effect; Cabaret; 50 First Dates; Eurotrip; Mystic River; Girl with a Pearl Earring.

A typical Disney High School Teen Flick!

[walshie2k4 · 7/10 · 27 February 2005]

Let just say from a non-biased point of view this film was nothing special. From start to finish it remained a typical Disney Teen Movie, the main role of Lola is played by Lindsay Lohan. It has to be said Lohan does not do a bad job of acting in this simple box standard teen flick. Many parts of the film are rather unrealistic and although this relates to the tilte - 'Drama Queen' maybe the film is a little far fetched. A good example of this is when Lola is talking to Ella about the death of her father, the story is told in I would say Lizzy Maguire style with all the cartoons etc. These cartoons are totally over the top and stand out like a sore thumb as this style is never used in the film again. The whole aspect of a girl with a dream moving from New York City the dream city with the lights, sparkle and Broadway to a small basic town in New Jersey. Although this small basic town seems to have large malls, a high school able to put on a show that you would expect to see on Broadway and more Apple Laptops than NYU. Some scenes in the film are extremely dragged out for example the scene in which Lola and Ella follow Stu Wolf. I personally found it long and boring. A highlight of the film is Lohans rendition of 'That Girl' which takes part at the end of the High School show. Also the performance from Allison Phill is excellent and at times moving showing the girl who was 'brave enough to be different' because of Lolas influence. Over all the film is a typical high school teen flick. I should not imagen it has made a significant promotion or change in Lohan's career or that of any actor involved. I would advise if you are a fan of Lohan's or like this type of Disney Teen flick I would go see the film, otherwise catch it on cable sometime. Notthing special.

Oh...my...god (Warning: too long & with spoilers)

[aleusong · 1/10 · 7 December 2004]

I am not a mother. Nor am I a Christian. But I knew before I even got halfway through this film that Lola is the antichrist! HAHAHA. Seriously, I expected this film to be as bad as "A Cinderella Story". Folks this is not just bad…this must be the most immoral film to ever be done by Disney! I am speechless as to how wrong this film was, I must write a looooong rant!!!

Lola is the worst Disney protagonist ever! She is in no ways different from Carla. Lola is just as self-centered and worse, she lies. At least 99% of what Carla does in this film she earned without lying. I felt so sorry for Ella. She allowed someone like Lola, who only cares about doing what it takes to take over the popularity circuit, to tell her how to live her life just because she is not popular herself. Every minute I'm like "Ella, please, please, snap and just bitch-slap her!" I was disappointed when all we got from Ella was a fit about Lola lying about her father which died in a few minutes.

Now in "A Cinderella Story" when Sam got humiliated you knew she didn't deserve it from day one. But you cannot tell me that when we get to 'Lola's Low Point' that she did not deserve it! But then again, the whole band thing was unbelievable. I would've been like…so you may or may not have met some rock star…who cares? And she almost loses her part in the play and decides to go home and cry about just because no ones believes her. OH BOO-HOO. WHY DIDN'T ELLA SLAP HER BACK TO REALITY THEN?!!! And Lola and Ella's obsession with that band is just messed up…it almost made me sick.

How can Ella and Sam survive being around Lola for one second without being wierded out?!! What made me even angrier was that Sam was in love with her. Sam deserves someone better, not a lying selfish, not to mention weird, bitch who thinks that everyone's a retard so getting what she wants wont be difficult!

Then I smirked as we got near the end when you know that Disney was just putting in stuff to cover up this evil character…like telling a rock star he's drunk and get him on rehab the next day? OH PLEASE!!! This I learned from reality: 99.9% of all people who get drunk WILL DENY IT!

Oh yeah, and no tweenie film would be complete without the whole "believe in yourself" phrase. It worked for "A Cinderella Story" because it was actually relevant to the plot. They just tossed the phase somewhere near the end of this film…and then pulled off their own 'Cinderella-ending'. And we don't even know if Lola learned to stop treating people like retards. The ending has some okay moments but some bad ones (No, Sam! Stay away from Lola!!!)

So as bad as most tweenie films are, this should've never seen daylight. Girls do not learn to believe in themselves (or that drinking is wrong). They learn to believe in the idea that they can get whatever they want because the world revolves around them (that sounds kinda like Disney right now!)

In my opinion this would've worked better as a PG13 rated parody flick with lots of teen sex. It amazes me that "Mean Girls" was a lot more believable and moral despite being made for older audiences. As for what "Confessions" was originally intended to be…it has failed in every spot, not to mention become the worst influence on adolescence, period. Funny because the stereotypes in "Confessions" were low compared to other films.