Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004)

Directed by: Sara Sugarman | 86 minutes | comedy, family | Actors: Lindsay Lohan, Adam Garcia, Glenne Headly, Alison Pill, Carol Kane, Eli Marienthal, Megan Fox, Sheila McCarthy, Tom McCamus, Richard Fitzpatrick, Sheila Sealy-Smith, Ashley Leggat, Barbara Mamabolo, Maggie Oskam, Rachael Oskam

‘Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen’ is Lohan’s third major film and second teen film (the remake ‘Freaky Friday’ was her first film aimed at teenage girls in 2003). So in 2004 ‘Confessions’ and ‘Mean Girls’. The second is better in many ways, but ‘Confessions’ is still nice, but only for a targeted audience. As always, we work according to a fixed formula. Girl (Lola, played by Lindsay Lohan) and popular girl (Carla, played by Megan Fox) compete for a – of course also popular – boy. Only here the boy turns out to be no ordinary boy, but a real rock star named Stu (Adam Garcia), who will give his last performance ever because the band is breaking up.

As should be the case in all these kinds of movies, there is also a best friend (Ella, one of Alison Pill’s worse roles), of course a misfit and also fond of Stu. After a long and mostly empty story, the friends finally get the chance to meet him and follow him, whereupon Lola melodramatically sighs that it is like following Heathcliff (from ‘Wuthering Heights’) across the Moors. Ironic, as she uses Heathcliff as the model for the romantic hero, when he’s really just a jerk. But Lola is probably too busy living her own life to open the book.

Lohan does her part okay, but isn’t as strong as in her other films, such as the aforementioned ‘Mean Girls’ and ‘Herbie: Fully Loaded’. You get the idea that she has used up her energy in the aforementioned movies. Alison Pill seems completely uninvolved in her role and overacts her innocence too much, making it seem rather unbelievable. Adam Garcia, on the other hand, is particularly good and takes the film to a higher level, as does Megan Fox, who despite her role is not great, manages to impress. Initially, the role was offered to Lohan’s “arch-rival” Hilary Duff (“Lizzie McGuire,” “A Cinderella Story”), who also enjoys starring in over-the-top teen movies. She probably thanked her kindly not only because of her busy schedule, but also because she foresaw that the plot was a little thin. Smart choice.

All in all, ‘Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen’ is quite a decent film, but it definitely falls short when compared to the large range of other equally dramatized girl films. He is too much in everything; costumes, acting, bizarre, implausible plot twists and superficiality. That probably doesn’t matter to the target group, so they will enjoy this La Lohan film again.