3/5 Very Sweet, Sometimes Cheesy, Chick Flick
  by Ashley Quinn (IL United States)
I can't believe this movie practically had me crying in the beginning. If the movie does anything right, it's the ability to try and jerk a tear out of it's audience. It worked on my mom! I was totally skeptical at first-- not a huge Hilary Duff fan --but this is a pretty good movie, despite the facts that it employs every single movie character cliche and (at times) has the cheesiest dialogue ever.

Duff plays Terri, who wants to go to a music school in LA. Her brother Paul(played by Jason Ritter-- who's too cute for his own good!) is practically her best friend, he supports her like crazy. Her father doesn't want her to go, but her flaky aunt and cool mom do. When Terri's brother is killed in a car accident, she's not sure she wants to sing anymore, and dad certainly doesn't want her going away to a music school. So when Terri is accepted, her mom and aunt cover her back so she can go. Paul would've wanted her to go. She meets a cute guy (Oliver James, in the same role he played in What a Girl Wants), a cool teacher (John Corbett!), and makes some cool friends. Can she overcome her grieving to perform in front of the crowd and sing her heart out?? Will she win the $10,000 scholarship that the music school offers to the best performance? Take a wild guess... hey, it might just surprise you. (But if you pay attention it probably won't. That's okay, though!!)

The emotion is there-- that of a grieving sister and family. It's well played; I ALMOST cried (I held it in!). The dialogue is so bad in some spots, but funny and original in others. It seemed to yo-yo back and forth. It's a cute movie for teen girls, they'll swoon over Oliver James, and a pretty good movie for anyone else who can see past the cliches (I did) and just enjoy the movie. Of course it's going to be cheesy sometimes, but that's the charm! Check this one out sometime!! RECOMMENDED!!

5/5 Best Yet!
  by Jonathan (Anywhere but here)
Raise Your Voice was awesome! It was Hilary's best movie yet! Hilary gives her greatest performance as Terri, a shy girl with a huge talent for singing and writing. When she wants to go to a summer music program, her dad says no, but her brother supports her and secretly submits an application. After a tradgey in her family, Terri doesn't want to sing anymore, but when she gets accepted to the school she finds the courage to believe in herself again.

This really isn't your typical Hilary Duff movie. More dramatic, it really shows how good of an actress Hilary can be. Terri goes through such a wide range of emotions, from happy to dpressed to lonely to sad, Hilary conquers all of these. Hilary's performance is so good that you feel what Terri feels, and are rooting for her until the end. John Corbett's character adds comedy to the movie, and Oliver James's charatcer is there to help Hilary at the school.

I highly reccommend this movie for anyone. It makes you feel good at the end and is perfect for anyone who enjoys a good movie.

5/5 RAISE YOUR SEATS
  by Miriam N. Doner (Santa Rosa, CA United States)
IF YOU LIKED A CINDERELLA STORY,IF YOU LOVE MUSIC THEN BE PREPARED TO SEE THIS MOVIE FAR MORE THAN ONCE.HILARY DUFF CAPTIVATES AUDIENCES ALL OVER THE COUNTRY ONCE AGAIN WITH AN OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE THAT PEOPLE WILL BE TALKING ABOUT ALL YEAR!

4/5 sweet, powerful, and well-done to its own due audience
  by MollyRK (Chicago)
The explanation behind this film's very modest success at the box office is really no different than that of any other "teen flick" in its respective genre. Many just depict it as being too cheesy and silly, but when it is viewed by its audience as the lighthearted and enjoyable fluff that it is, there is absolutely nothing wrong with it.

"Raise Your Voice," stars the infamous Hilary Duff as Terri Fletcher, a 16-year-old girl with a gift for singing and performing. Nobody supports her more than her loving older brother Paul, her only sibling, who is determined to make sure his little sister goes as far as she can. Tragedy strikes the family early in the movie, and with barely enough time to grieve, Terri is accepted into a prestigious music school for the summer, and her mother and aunt are dead-set on making sure she accepts the rare opportunity. Terri wants to go, of course, but with her extremely overprotective father clinging to her harder than ever, the three women may have to conspire together in order to make it happen. So begins Terri's solo trip to LA to pursue her dream, and as she deals with snarky classmates, boys, and overwhelming expectations from teachers, she is also fighting to cope with the pain and guilt of moving on without the one person who believed in her more than anyone else.

This movie has often been likened to "Brave New Girl," a film spawned from Britney and Lynne Spears' co-written book, but this film had its differences. Unlike the title character in "Brave New Girl," Terri Fletcher did not have to change her voice or style to reel in the people at her music school. They liked her for the girl in her application video, and what came out was HER, not somebody who had to conform.

It is true that this film is one of Hilary Duff's most emotional and well-executed roles. One thing I really like about this girl is that she knows who she is as an actress, and she plays to that personal style without ever trying to be anything different. She doesn't try to act like she's 30; she's a teenager, a kid, and that's the vibe she still projects in her acting, even though she has clearly grown and changed so much since her initial breakout as an innocent little middle schooler in Disney's "Lizzie McGuire." There is something very commendable to be said about that. Playing the role of a sweet, innocent, and hard-working young girl suits Duff well, and even as she gets older and branches out to more complex material, I think she will always be one of the special ones. You may love her or hate her, but few can deny that she is one of the better role models in today's world of countless female teen actresses.

As for Duff's love interest Oliver James...I remember seeing him in "What a Girl Wants" alongside Amanda Bynes, and I don't really care for him much, but the scenes between him and Hilary were still good. Everyone did a nice job with their roles, and you may even recognize Terri's father Simon as the dad in "The Parent Trap"--not the Lindsay Lohan version, mind you, but the one way back when with Hayley Mills.

"Raise Your Voice" is a breath of fresh air and the perfect film for its personal audience to watch. We all know what a "chick flick" is, and we all know what sweet fluff is, so if you don't like either of those things, then you really have no reason to watch this movie. But for others, it carries a fun plot and a positive message to appeal to its viewers.

5/5 Hilary Duff sparkles
  by
In this sweet,cute,follow-your-dreams themed movie about a small-town girl who wishes to be a singer and attend a music camp in L.A.for the summer but has to lie to her dad to get there since he's a strict thorn.Terri Flecter is a beautiful,talented,and gifted young singer whose only real performances are in her church choir.Her brother,Paul,is her biggest fan and encorages her to pursue her dreams in life,despite her father's wishes for her to work at his restraunt in the local area.After her brother sadly dies in a car crash,Terri decides it's time for her to spread her wings and fly a little and go to music camp and with the help of her kind mother and a nutty aunt Nina she leaves her hometown for L.A. Once there,she struggles to fit in,among popular snob Robin,a geeky funny boy named Kiwi,a sexy British hunk,and gets help from a cool hippie teacher.As the young girl approves on her vocals and starts to believe in herself,she also forms a romance with the ever-cutie pie Jay and makes some new friends,her violn-playing roomate Denise,and Kiwi and his crush,the piano-playing Solane.Terri has to stand up to her father in the end and insist on staying so she can perform and her dad finally comes around in the end.The plot is about a girl who has the courage to follow her dreams despite all the negative people in her life.The message for young girls is to follow your dreams and find some passion in your life to pursue and love.It's a beauitful,passionate,inspiring story and Hilary is beautiful with her golden blonde hair and mega-watt smile.I'd reccomend any young girl who has a dream to see this movie.Hilary's grown-up since her 'Lizzie McGuire'days and it shows.