Picture This!

Rating PG13 Formats DVD Genre comedy Starring Ashley Tisdale, Robbie Amell, Kevin Pollak Directed by Stephen Hereck Publisher MGM

Picture this: a combination of Mean Girls, Sleepover, and every other teen chick-film out there.  You’ve got your popular girls, your hot guy, and your geeky girl with the support of her best friends.  Put these all together and you have ABC Family’s Picture This, a clichéd Cinderella story about a teenager trying to make it to the party hosted by the guy of her dreams.  

18-year-old Mandy Gilbert (Ashley Tisdale) has had a crush on Drew Patterson (Robbie Amell) since seventh grade.  Unfortunately, they’re separated by the cliques of high school.  That changes when Mandy becomes determined to get Drew to notice her.  She joins the school’s swim team to be near the jock.  Drew notices her, but not in the way she expects.  When she slips and falls into the pool, Drew jumps in after her and saves her life.  After that, Drew can’t keep his eyes off of Mandy.  Neither can Drew’s girlfriend, Lisa Cross (Cindy Busby), who will do anything to keep Mandy away from Drew.  When Drew invites Mandy to a party at his house, Lisa follows Mandy around and tries to keep her from going to the party.

As Mandy perseveres and conquers the challenges Lisa creates, she has another problem on her hands.  Its name is Dad.  He’s just given Mandy a new phone, but has also grounded her on the day of the party.  She tells him she’s going to a friend’s house to study, but instead gets ready for Drew’s party.  Her father calls every half hour to make sure she’s not disobeying him.  Mandy’s phone has video chat and she must show her dad video ever time he calls to prove that she’s still at her friend’s house.  

Mandy really isn’t that geeky.  Sure she wears glasses and doesn’t hang out with the popular crowd, but she’s still good looking and you never see her hitting the books for an exam.  In fact, she skips studying in order to go to Drew’s party.  Mandy is a cute character, but you never gain a sense of who she is as a person.  Unfortunately, the same goes for Drew.  After Drew rescues Mandy from drowning, he suddenly pays attention to Mandy and starts spending time with her.  It happens too suddenly.  The script develops little chemistry between Drew and Mandy until the end of the film and never shows what attracted Drew to Mandy in the first place.  

Mandy’s relationship with her father is the one part of the film that really hits its mark.  While some of the things Mandy has to do to make it look like she’s still at her friend’s house are a little unbelievable, Mandy’s love-hate relationship with her father is completely realistic.  Her father is reluctant to let go of his grown up baby girl and becomes overly controlling.  Many teens will relate to Mandy’s frustration and parents will relate to her father’s desire to stay near his little girl.

Unfortunately, the rest of the film contains several cheesy, unrealistic scenarios and one racy part that isn’t family friendly.  Toward the end of the film, characters reveal a rumor that every year, a Patterson boy takes a girl to the “tower” of his house and “deflowers” her in the shower.  Mandy isn’t sure whether or not to believe the rumor and must decide whether to stay in the tower with Drew or leave before anything can happen.  Once she makes her decision, things move at a fast pace, and the end comes quickly with hardly any closure.  The script writers also threw in a few witches at the end of the movie, which was out of place and added nothing to the plot.

A few moments in Picture This! will make you laugh or smile, but the film is nothing special.  Several plot points include cell phones and how they are used for gossip and embarrassment – thus the name of the film.  However, there is not much of a battle between the good girls and the bad girls.  While the popular girls use their cell phones a few time throughout the film, Mandy and her friends don’t fight back until the end of the film; rather, they merely find ways to get past the traps that have been set up along the way.

The story in Picture This! is predictable and unoriginal.  While the special features are creative, there aren’t many of them.  A short behind-the-scenes feature describes where the story comes from, the casting process, and the characters in the film.  Another feature allows you watch several actors make “Cell Phone Confessions” of their “true” feelings about working on the film.  The DVD also includes a trivia game that rewards you with more cast interviews if you answer all 12 questions correctly.  Lastly, a behind-the-scenes feature shows how one scene in the film was made.  The scene features Mandy singing in a battle-of-the-bands.  Considering the great voice Ashley Tisdale has, you’d think film makers would include a music video, but they don’t.

If you’re in the mood for a cute and fun movie, then you’re better off watching Picture This! on TV.  The special features will please a younger audience but lack substance, and the story lacks originality.  You’re better off watching Mean Girls or Sleepover.