The Story
18 year old Anna Foster (Mandy Moore) has a tough life. Her father (Mark Harmon) happens to be the President of the United States and this small fact puts a major cramp in her dating life. Whenever she leaves the White House campus, she is always accompanied by a string of bodyguards including Morales (Annabelle Sciorra) and Weiss (Jeremy Piven).
On a trip overseas, Anna convinces her father to scale down the bodyguards when she attends a concert with friend Gabrielle (Béatrice Rosenblatt) - or so she thinks. Once she's arrived, she looks around and sees that there are a ton of them hanging around. Her father lied to her - Anna feels so betrayed and she rushes out of the concert hall and into the arms of Ben (Matthew Calder). They sprint away on his motorcycle, losing the pack of bodyguards.
Anna feels free for the first time. But what she doesn't know is that Ben is actually part of the Secret Service entourage. It's a fact that he keeps secret from her so that she can continue under the illusion that she is experiencing "freedom".
What happens next? Oh, I bet you can guess a couple of things in both the romantic and betrayal departments.
The Problems tsk tsk.
This is what happens when you put a television director (Andy Cadiff) together with unseasoned film writers (Derek Guiley, David Schneiderman). Not good things, people. You get a plot that is thin on substance and dialog that is more predictable than tonight's cold weather.
I likeMandy Moore. She's charismatic without being over the top irritating. She's a talented singer. In the right role and movie (i.e. A Walk To Remember), she can hold her own next to her peers.
But somewhere between her potential and reality, there is a gap. Whether the gap exists because of her stupidity or the stupidity of her management is anyone's guess.
Regardless, this gap is a mile-wide and if the casual consumer didn't know more about Mandy they would assume that she's nothing more than the flavor of the moment (i.e. Hillary Duff). This role - as the teenage daughter or a "stern" President - only reinforces that flavor of the month thought process.
It's not that Mandy was horrible. Given what she had to work with, she was fine. But that's the point. Fine. If she continues down this path of starring in mediocre flik's, I foresee Playboy in her future.
Newcomer Matthew Calder was cast for one reason - the hunk factor. Problem was, I didn't find him all that hunky and his chemistry with Mandy felt forced and platonic.
When did Mark Harmon start looking this old? Last time I saw him was in Summer School and sure - that was awhile back but dang...the guy has sure aged! He was basically, a non-entity in this movie. You know, just the stern, father type who thinks he knows best.
There was a sub-plot involving Annabelle and Jeremy. They are actually the reason why the movie rated 2 instead of 3 stars. Their bantering and sexual tension at least kept me awake enough for Mandy's miserable stuff.
And just to put another aspect of the movie into perspective, there is no soundtrack that I am aware of. This has got to be a sure sign that certain people (*cough* Mandy) knew after a bit of time, that this was going to be a stinker of a film.
The End Chasing Liberty is rated PG-13 for sexual content and brief nudity (you get to see a shot of Mandy's backside). Totally - TOTALLY skip this one in the theaters. Chicks who are set on seeing it, rent it when it comes to video.
The teen daughter of the President of the United States decides to ditch her secret service body guards so that she can explore Europe with her boyfri...More at HotMovieSale.com
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