Disney Channel is showing the movie on Saturday August 9th at 7/6c if you want to watch or TiVo it.
Plot - The movie is about Isabelle's struggle to shine at her performing arts school. She loves ballet but feels stuck in her older sister Jade's shadow and is bullied by a classmate. Isabelle has very low self-esteem and has basically no faith in herself. When she takes a part in the Nutcracker she has to face both her bully and feeling like she'll never compare to Jade. When the big dance number becomes harder will she be able to land the final turn sequence or mess up in front of everyone? Will she be good enough to get the New York Ballet summer program?
Good points:
- The acting wasn't bad, especially for the number of child/teen actors
- The dancing/choreography was great (I have no experience dancing so I'm not the greatest judge on this).
- The costumes were nice although only two looked like the Isabelle doll outfits.
(I realize that it looks like I have far more complaints than compliments but that does not mean I thought it was a bad movie. It's easier to find flaws than good points.)
Some things I noticed that were off or not quite right to me:
- Isabelle's pink hair seem to disappear on and off throughout the movie
- The girl who played Isabelle's sister Jade (Grace Davidson) is obviously not close to Jade's age (which I believe is about 13 because there is a New York ballet program for 4-7th grade spots and most kids are 12 or 13 in 7th grade). Jade could easily pass for a 18 year old. I wasn't able to find Grace Davidson's age but I'm sure she is a legal adult (18+). Isabelle is a 9 year old played by a 14 year old so I'm sure Grace is several years older than Jade which isn't uncommon.
- There are very few kids that look to be Jade's age or any other age besides Isabelle/Renata's age despite the fact that the school spans several grades/ages.
- The movie is set in DC but quite a few people have noticeable Canadian accents.
- The movie can be painfully slow and predictable. Maybe it's less predictable for younger viewers but I was definitely able to guess what was about to happen most of the time.
- The music wasn't very good. Mediocre singing and lyrics were (unsurprisingly) pretty cheesy.
- Isabelle constantly put herself down, to the point where I didn't even feel sorry for her.
- Renata's bullying went undetected in places where adults weren't out of ear-shot. The bullying seemed off in a way I don't think I can quite describe. It just seemed like too much I guess.
- (Spoiler alert!) It ended the same way every AG movie ends - everyone gets along and everything is perfect.
