Review of Cadet Kelly (2002) by Dana A — 01 Feb 2010

The plot of the movie concerns Kelly, a free-spirited eighth grade girl whose mother gets married to Brigadier General Joe "Sir" Maxwell (played by Gary Cole). When her new stepfather becomes the Commandant of a military school, Kelly enrolls there because it is the only school in the area. Kelly at first has trouble fitting in and obeying the orders of the officers above her, especially Cadet Captain Jennifer Stone, played by Christy Carlson Romano, who likes a fellow student named Cadet Major Brad Rigby who is played by Shawn Ashmore. They reach the point of being taken to court and seeing Kelly sentenced to shine the uniforms of the drill team, a team she looked down upon, seeing the drill team members as robots. However, she gradually takes a liking to them and tries out. She makes the drill team and even helps the school win second place at the regional drill competition.

During the competition her father, who had promised to be there, is injured during a photo shooting, in which he falls over the side of a cliff edge. Kelly, and Sir leave the competition when Kelly's father calls her on the her cell, which is their 'lifeline.' They find and rescue him, but by the time Kelly gets back to the competition, they're only down by five points. They manage to make it to second place.