Customer Reviews

From Justin To Kelly (Special Edition)

5 star:		(88)
4 star:		(40)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(72)

 

 

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 voice. The dialogue is better than we have any right to expect, and while the pace is leasuirely the film holds your interest.

I put this one at about 3.5 stars. If you love Clarkson or Guarini, rent it. If you're fifteen and having a slumber party, buy it. And if you're a Clay Aiken fan, hope for a sequel.
GRADE: B-

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 but there is always some thing going wrong when they try to get together.

The movie is a musical, so every now and again they bust in to song and dance. None of the songs are that good, though they try hard. The movie has the kind of parties where everyone knows all the moves to the dance, and so we have Justin and Kelly walking along the beach when the start singing and everyone on the beach starts a choreographed dance routine. The dance routines are probably the best part of the movie, and I was a little impressed by Justin and Kelly's dancing. It's more than I can do. To be charitable, the movie's audience is probably not a twentysomething male, but rather the preteen crowd. On that level, it may work.

Nothing about this movie suggests that From Justin to Kelly is as bad as Mr. Gleiberman's review. The movie is not horrible. It is not an abomination, and it is not a crime against humanity (as I have seen some user reviewers state). From Justin to Kelly is just not a good movie. Nothing more, nothing less.

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 "awwww."

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 from this because in the middle of the final number, he just fades to black, and it was over.

I suggest everyone goes and sees this, because it is the best example of what you should not do. In fact, it is so wrong, that it becomes extremely entertaining in the process. Please see this!

I went to see this "film" with my little sister on Saturday, the day after it opened. We arrived at the theatre a little early, since most movies are packed on opening weekend. Needless to say, our expectations were immediately dwindled when the ticket sales lady laughed at us when we asked for 2 tickets to "From Justin to Kelly".
"Are you kidding me?" she said. "Don't you mean you want to see 'Charlie's Angels'?"
"No." we replied.
"Really, you should change your mind. I saw the first 5 minutes yesterday and couldn't stand any more." she warned us.
Being the American Idol fans we are, we opted to follow our original intentions and purchased 2 ...tickets to "From Justin to Kelly".
We arrived in the theatre minutes before the show began, expecting there to be few seats left. To our surprise, not a single person was in the theatre. We soon found out why.

From Justin to Kelly is the most ridiculous, overacted, cheesy, immature, silly, boring and downright irritating movie I've seen in a REALLY long time. Not only are the musical numbers completely pointless, they are often without feeling and any meaning (a prime example being when Justin and Kelly are on the boat singing about their timeless love, even though they've only met a day before...not only that, but they don't even look at each other once in the song, even though they are sitting less than 10 feet apart). The supporting cast is just as bad. Both of Justins groupies are annoying and contrived. Kelly's friends are horrible actresses and the blonde chick sounds like she's tone deaf when she sings. If her solo song had gone on any longer, I might have possibly gone insane.

An hour into this movie, both my sister and I agreed that we couldn't take much more of this film as a whole. It lacks any passion, magic, intelligence, intrigue, class or style.

To make a long story short, don't waste your time or money on this movie. It will only encourage the producers to make more junk like it.

This was a terrible film. Justin and Kelly both proved to the entire world that they can't act and of the two of them, only Kelly has even decent vocal abilities.

Each musical number is slopped between over-acting and horribly written dialogue that fails miserably and meeting its obvious pop-culture savvy intentions.

I've never seen such a poorly pieced together film, and I did - in fact - happen to catch a little film called Spice World. None of the scenes seem to have anything to do anything else and half of the music is irrelevent to the situation.

And I won't even get in to the choreography, so let's just leave it at the fact that this ranks along the likes of Envy, Starsky & Hutch, Spice World, and Gigli with the worst films ever made.

When you were 14 or 15, here's how you wanted to view the world:

You go to Florida for Spring Break. Immediately, everyone else sees that you are IT and all voluntarily become back-up dancers and side-players in your own unfolding drama. You meet the best looking potential mate imaginable. You "connect" with little more than a glance. You dance the night away but then break-up the next day.....he/she's "not who you thought they were". In a resounding rout for all things right and good, you make-up the next day, vow to never part even though you live on opposite sides of the country and end the vacation with a snappy song & dance number by the hotel pool in which all eyes are on you and your handsome soul-mate.....everyone else mimicking your gyrations with such amazing sync that it's almost as if everyone in the world were a mere extension of you and what you're thinking.

Those were the days, were they not? Now, I wouldn't even take my shirt off by a pool, much less imagine starting a gravity-defying group dance and sing-along that no one can resist joining in on. The best scene in this movie was when Justin and Kelly finally got together away from all of their sycophants, got on a white boat with both of them wearing white linen clothing....and yodel their feelings to each other as Justin steered them into a blazing sunset.

I'll have to give this 3 stars on its own merits. Of course, it won't be playing double-feature with The Last Emperor, but it'll give you a much needed reminder that you weren't always the jaded old grouch that you are now....and that's worth 2 of the three stars, right there.

What can I say? This wasted precious time of my life. Good thing I saw it for free, but that's not saying much. Those idols should be proud of their fellow peers for making the worst movie ever made. Yes, Simon Calwell knows what he's talking about when he sees talent. There was so much singing in "From Justin to Kelly," I wanted to get up and start break-dancing and kick the tv screen in. The acting was grotesquely ugly and it would've made Medusa go back in the darkness where she came from. I don't think I can ever step foot on a beach again after watching this horrible misery. I'm scarred for life.

And I don't mean the French word for "bread".

This is the worst movie I've seen in my life. Previous reviews commented on the fact that it's painful to watch. I thoroughly agree. Yes, Justin and Kelly, it's great that you guys are "American Idols", but please, don't ever grace us with your presence on the big screen again.

Ever.

After spending countless hours making fun of Glitter (Mariah Carey's wretched theatrical offering), I picked up "From Justin To Kelly" with the intent of doing the same thing.

But then, a funny thing happened... I Actually Enjoyed The Movie!

I'm 34 years old and fondly remember watching Grease and old Gidget movies with Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello and the gang. And From Justin To Kelly took me back to that time. A time when a movie didn't have to have a really solid plot line, a strong message or anything else. A time when a movie could just be a feel-good, fun fest with lots of good music. More importantly, a fresh film that I can share with my children. This movie is fresh, fun and definitely feel good!

Basic premise: The "Mayor's Of Spring Break" from Philly (Justin & Brad) throw all the wild parties in Florida. Alexa, Kya and Kelly are from Texas and hit the beach for spring break themselves. As everyone is dancing, having a good time and surprisingly adept at the choreography ;o), Justin & Kelly meet and it's Like At First Sight! Unfortunately, Alexa is the jealous type suffering from a lack of positive identity, so she usurps Kelly at every turn to keep Justin away from her. Fortunately, it doesn't work well because Justin and Kelly keep finding each other. And all this while singing really nice songs and innocent dialog. Special mention for Kelly's wardrobe in the film which is really nice.

My recommendation is to definitely get this one, particularly if you have children under the age of 17. From Justin To Kelly is a nice, summer fun film that you can share with your children. And that's something we just don't have much of nowadays.

Is it just me, or does Justin look more like a girl than Kelly does. Weird.