The Lizzie McGuire Movie

The Lizzie McGuire Movie is a 2003 American teen comedy film directed by Jim Fall, written by Susan Estelle Jansen, Ed Decter and John J. Strauss, and starring Hilary Duff, Adam Lamberg, Jake Thomas, Hallie Todd and Robert Carradine. The movie is based on the Disney Channel television series Lizzie McGuire.

Plot
During the junior high graduation, Lizzie McGuire is forced to make a speech in place of the class president, Margaret Chan, where she trips on stage and brings the curtain down on everyone who is onstage. She and her friends then leave on a class trip to Rome for two weeks, accompanied by her rude and strict new high school principal Ms. Ungermeyer and her ex-best friend Kate Sanders.

After discovering she is sharing a room with Kate, Ms. Ungermeyer takes them to the famous Trevi Fountain where Lizzie throws a penny into the water for good luck. This causes several bystanders to trip. A few seconds later, she meets the famous European pop star, Paolo, who exclaims how much she resembles his singing partner, Isabella. Paolo promises to meet Lizzie at the Trevi Fountain the next day if Lizzie wishes to see him again. The next day, Lizzie pretends to be sick and sneaks off to meet Paolo. She goes on a drive with him, agreeing to sing with him as Isabella to prevent Isabella from being sued for lip-synching. Later, Lizzie discovers that she also has to lip-synch "What Dreams Are Made Of", but agrees to do that too. Kate finds out the truth but helps Lizzie instead.

Lizzie continues to pretend to be sick, but when her scheme is about to be discovered, Gordo sacrifices himself by telling Ms. Ungermeyer that he was the one who was sneaking out. Just as he's about to board the plane home, he meets the real Isabella at the airport and discovers the truth about Paolo. Gordo and Isabella race to the music event to stop Paolo from making a fool of Lizzie on stage. Paolo's plan was to show the world that Isabella is lip-synching; ironically, it turns out that Paolo was lip-synching. Isabella and Gordo expose Paolo by pulling the plug on his microphone, causing him to be shown for the fake he actually is. Lizzie then ends up singing "What Dreams are Made of" in front of the entire audience inside the Colosseum.

Later at the hotel, Paolo's ex-bodyguard, Sergei, has formed a new relationship with Ms. Ungermeyer. Ms. Ungermeyer is informed of the truth about Lizzie sneaking off and Gordo earns her respect as a loyal friend to Lizzie. Lizzie and Gordo sneak away for the last time from the after-party and went up to the roof to talk. Gordo reassures Lizzie that things will be just as good when they go back home and that he always believes in her. Then, Lizzie gives him a kiss and he says "thanks". They both decide to go back to the afterparty before they get in trouble again. So, they both return to the after party as the fireworks spell out the words "The End".

Cast

 * Hilary Duff as Lizzie McGuire and Isabella Parigi
 * Adam Lamberg as David Gordon
 * Jake Thomas as Matt McGuire
 * Hallie Todd as Jo McGuire
 * Robert Carradine as Sam McGuire
 * Yani Gellman as Paolo Valisari
 * Alex Borstein as Ms. Angela Ungermeyer
 * Clayton Snyder as Ethan Craft
 * Ashlie Brillault as Kate Saunders
 * Brendan Kelly as Sergei
 * Carly Schroeder as Melina Bianco
 * Daniel Escobar as Mr. Escobar
 * Jody Raicot as Giorgio
 * Terra MacLeod as Franca DiMontecatini
 * Claude Knowlton as Stage Manager

Soundtrack
See Also: The Lizzie McGuire Movie Soundtrack

Production
The film, produced by Stan Rogow, was directed by Jim Fall from a screenplay by Susan Estelle Jansen, Ed Decter and John J. Strauss, was filmed on location in Rome, Italy in the fall of 2002. All the series characters reprised their roles except for Lalaine (Miranda Sanchez), who left the series late in the second season to film the Disney Channel original movie You Wish!. Her character was said to be on vacation with her family in Mexico City.

Home Media
The film was released on VHS and DVD on August 12, 2003.

As of November 12, 2019, the film, along with the series, is available to stream on Disney+

Critical Response
On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval 41% based on reviews from 99 critics. The site's consensus stated it was a "harmless piece of fluff that ought to satisfy fans of the TV show". On Metacritic the film has a score of 56 out of 100 based on reviews from 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B on scale of A to F.

Scott Brown of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B+: "Let's face it: Lizzie McGuire (Hilary Duff) is just too darn polished to be a junior-high underdog, even by the standards of her 'luxe suburban environs'. But that hasn't tarnished her comeback-kid cred among the six-and-ups who faithfully follow her Disney Channel show, and it doesn't make The Lizzie McGuire Movie, a clever, agreeably weightless theatrical outing, any less enjoyable." Roger Ebert gave the film two stars out of four, but praised Borstein's performance, calling her work "the only really delightful element in the movie; everything else is simply slick and professional."

Box Office
In its opening weekend the film grossed $17.3 million in 2,825 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking second behind X2: X-Men United. The Lizzie McGuire Movie grossed $42.7 million domestically and $12.8 million internationally for a worldwide total of $55.5 million.