Review of From Justin to Kelly (2003) by Charles P — 12 Oct 2014

"From Justin to Kelly" is the worst kind of bad movie; the kind that's so uninspired and dull you can't even make fun of it. It's spring break in Florida. Kelly Taylor (Kelly Clarkson) needs a break from her waiting and entertaining job and although she's not super anxious to go, she's convinced by her friends Alexa (Katherine Bailess) and Kaya (Anika Noni Rose) that a little vacation is just what she needs. In Fort Lauderdale, Justin Bell (Justin Guarini) and his friend Carlos (Jason Yribar) are reaping the benefits of the crowds of teenagers by setting up competitions and parties while their friend Eddie (Brian Dietzen) is trying to meet up with his internet crush. When they all meet up on the beach, Justin is very interested in Kelly, but she suspects he's too party-crazy and wouldn't be interested in a real relationship. Alexa however, thinks he's just the kind of guy she wants and she won't let him get away. She repeatedly jumps between them with text messages and leads Justin to believe that Kelly is not interested despite the fact that the more time they spend together, the more the two leads start to fall for each other. During these misunderstandings, Kaya is starting a relationship with a sexy busboy named Carlos and although he hasn't had any luck with the ladies, Brandon keeps bumping into a sexy beach patrol woman and he's convinced it's only a matter of time before she falls for him. If you're expecting a whole lot of singing, spontaneously choreographed dance numbers and predictable love plots, then you've come to the right place.

It's just a by-the-books beach romance story that's been padded out to 1hr 21 minutes by throwing in a bunch of songs, one dimensional characters and light-as-air romance plots. It's clear that Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini have talent, but the songs they're given aren't memorable and weren't made for them so it just feels like a waste of time. The acting is spotty at best, you can tell by the fact that both Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini's characters' first names are the same as theirs. In the actors' defense though, it's blatantly obvious that this film was made due to contractual obligation. Why else would you have the winner and runner-up of a competition act together in a romantic movie when neither of them have any acting experience, and limited professional singing experience too? I suspect the whole thing was dug up from a dusty box of "quick, cheap teenage plots", rewritten a little bit and then shipped out to a crew that wasn't passionate at all about the project to capitalize on the immediate popularity of the stars. Even aside from the technical standpoint of the writing, the movie isn't put together very competently. It's poorly edited and looks more like a music video than a movie when there's singing and dancing and poorly acted when there isn't. If you're a fan of either Kelly Clarkson or Justin Guarini, or even of "American Idol", skip "From Justin to Kelly" and just listen to one of their albums instead. (VHS, August 24, 2012).