Undiscovered (2005)

What a waste of my time!!!

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Thought the plot, the characters, the setting, and especially the music fit in every way the tunes, especially "Smart In A Stupid Way" and "Boomerang". Undiscovered has a musician's feel that non-musician's could easily miss. Life of musicians is hectic enough, as in all areas of performing arts. Add to that formula an attempt at true romance while trying to pull it all off with an artist's feel, even by actors playing musicians, and that's quite a feat. This movie was obviously not meant to be some chromed rich kid glamor story about rock musicians. It's a picture of real life in the quest for fame and musical discovery, which in final leans more to the side of musical creation than performing. Thus its setting has that raw quality of down to earth smelly club carpet intermixed with a glamor chase, eventually resulting in neither, but instead a down home one on one relationship with one's music and one's lover.The soundtrack is excellent, the pop song composition is rich, and the musical performers are 'tight'. Some of the AR record scouts are slimy, which is not totally accurate in the real world, but enough to get the point across in the movie that songwriting carries many more benefits than performing.

Broke Gigli records? Horrible movie? I rented this movie, thinking it was going to be terrible. I actually thought it was very good.Most of the actors aren't well known, so it was much easier to watch and not be like, "Oh that's like their other character in that other movie where the guys does this and the thing blows up and......" or be thinking about their career and stuff. The movie seemed much more real with people that weren't known as Hollywood icons (except for Ashlee Simpson).I thought their Los Angeles life was very interesting and shot quite well. Unlike other movies, it didn't show only the best parts of town. Cramped apartments, Laundromats, outdoor restaurants, small theaters where the aspiring actors spent all their time running lines, the batting cages, city buses, airports, gyms, and other un- glamorous things were shot. The color wasn't perfect but then again they were in LA, a place filled with air pollution and such (as with other cities of course) and smog in the background, trash bags on the curbs, runaway dogs, and graffiti on the walls were filmed as well.The fact that they were all just friends in search of stardom but in different areas (acting, modeling, music, dance, song writing) made it interesting too. The story never got too into one field because the movie wasn't supposed to be about Ashlee's character getting that part or Luke's brother recording that song, but it did find that medium in establishing each character's struggle to achieve stardom (anxiety when auditioning, racking their brains to remember that line or come up with the rest of that song they've been writing, that adrenaline rush when on stage, doing anything to make more money, inviting their friends on stage to perform with them...). The only field it centered around was music, because most all of the characters were trying to build a career in music and the love aspect of the story between Luke and Brier was kept off because of Luke's success in stage performance- thanks in part to Brier- and Brier's weariness of the relationship due to past experiences with her old boyfriend, who was constantly cheating on her with groupies he met on the road, as he was a musician himself.I actually thought the movie was pretty realistic (well okay not completely realistic, almost no movies are these days, but it wasn't all changed up like other movies today who totally throw the truth out of wack.)Ashlee Simpson, though not extraordinarily talented, was not at all annoying or trying to be cute like in her early days on 7th Heaven as Cecilia and not trying to be all punk and sh*t like she was when her music career started out........ you know what I mean. I thought she was artsy and friendly and trustworthy in this movie, just a girl looking to be in the spotlight who loves performing and spends all her time reading scripts, hanging out at the theater, trying to get her friend noticed in this music world, etc. I actually ENJOYED her in this movie.Brier Tucket was played amazingly well by Pell James. Her character's mother had just died, she had few friends, had just moved to a new and very different city, her boyfriend was undoubtedly cheating on her, and she was being chased by another boy who she didn't want a relationship with because she feared that, because he was soon to be a rock star due to his exuding talent and charm, he would treat her the way her last boyfriend did. She had simply been hurt too much and was trying to be realistic. Brier was mature and filled with grace, trying not to let her feelings for Luke overcome her and allow her to be sucked into that world again. Luke, after seeing Brier for the very first time, guessed that she was a ballerina, as did I. Her gentleness and sensitiveness was touching, especially when she tried to cover her feelings up and be strong- when she called her boyfriend at his hotel after a show and heard multiple girls laughing in the background, when she left Luke's bedroom after coming to the realization that because he would soon be entering the music business it would be difficult for them to be together....Anyway, I thought this was a great movie, much better than I expected. I would give it somewhere in between a 5 and a six, certainly not a 2.8.

It definitely won't win an Oscar or best movie award but I think it's a definite rental movie. The plot has been done before yes but it's still worth seeing.Most of the acting was good. Steven Strait was amazing seeing as he is only 19. Amazing voice as well, the soundtrack is a must have. Ashlee Simpson was alright, she didn't show emotions very well but she was just a sidekick character. Carrie Fisher and Kip Pardue were nice comic-adding characters, I fell in love with Pardue immediately. The skateboarding dog was pretty neat. And Pell James was alright. She isn't really leading lady role material, she looked rather uncertain when she was acting. But the Brazillian chick kept loosing her accent which was kind of odd. And the Austrailian boyfriend was pretty funny.Best thing in this movie is the music. Even Ashlee Simpson's songs weren't that bad. Steven Strait sings most of the songs on the soundtrack and they are really good.The directing was total crap though. Editing sucked. The whole plot itself wasn't really thought-out like it could have been.So it's not an overly great movie but there are some nice faces to look at, some good acting, some comedy, romance, and some awesome music so it's worth it.

After reading a review on this film, which described the plot and acting as mediocre, and the cinematography poor, I must agree in part and disagree in part. While the movie was definitely not Shakespeare, it was definitely competitive with other films of its genre. In fact, as the plot dealt with a different side of fame, one that I don't think has been done before, it was therefore not a derivative, a common complaint of films. To the contrary, the plot was different, the acting very good especially from young and inexperienced actors, and the characters sympathetic. The story also provided some wisdom: messages, if you will, to be gleaned by more scrutinizing viewers. My sole problem with the film, and this can be remedied if one were to rent the full-screen version of the DVD, is the abysmal cinematography! I rent many movies and have never seen such a poorly edited film. The heads of the characters in almost every scene were cut off, the close-ups only got half of one character at times, and as far as background was concerned, that was nearly never included. This is particularly regretful as every actor in the film is remarkably attractive and it was almost impossible to see him or her! Thus, my recommendation is to see this film: enjoy the story, acting, and good-looking actors, but if you rent the DVD and not the VHS, make sure you get the full-screen version.