A coming-of-age story centered around a small-town singer brokenhearted by the death of her brother in a car crash, who had secretly submitted her for a summer session at a performing arts academy in Los Angeles. In the academy, she experiences a whole new way of life in the big city, far from the small town lifestyle she's used to.
I like Hilary Duff, she's very charming, but she's stuck on this after school special level with these movies.
– Richard Roeper,
Ebert & Roeper,
11 Oct 2004
rotten:
This is for Duff's already committed audiences, which presumably consist of the young, the innocent and the commercially acquisitive.
– Desson Thomson,
Washington Post,
8 Oct 2004
rotten:
All we can do is marvel at how the mighty -- Northern Exposure hottie John Corbett (as a weirdly flirty music teacher) and Risky Business babe Rebecca De Mornay (as Duff's frisky aunt) -- have fallen.
– Laura Sinagra,
Village Voice,
8 Oct 2004
rotten:
Even the kindest reaction to Raise My Voice is likely to be 'shut your face.'
– Mike Clark,
USA Today,
8 Oct 2004
fresh:
The music in Raise Your Voice ... manages to bring home what the uninspired script doesn't: Something in you dies if you don't express your musical talent.