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DVD Features
- Original Air Date: July 21, 2006 / Running Time: 84 Minutes / Rating: TV-G
- 1.33:1 Fullscreen Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles: English; Closed Captioned
- DVD Release Date: January 16, 2007
- Suggested Retail Price: $19.99
The movie
As trumpeted in the press release, the Disney Channel premiere of Read It and Weep was the “most watched telecast of the day on basic cable and broadcast.” Not exactly High School Musical (review) numbers, but hey, gotta accentuate the positive, right?
The heroine in Read It and Weep is high schooler Jamie Bartlett, played by Kay Panabaker, who has had guest spots on the Disney Channel’s Phil of the Future and voice work on American Dragon: Jake Long. When Jamie’s journal gets accidentally handed in as a homework assignment, she is shocked to find out that her teacher loves her “story”—and even more surprised when she gets an offer to publish her journal as a book, which quickly becomes a national bestseller.
Even though she substituted real names with fictional ones for the nasty popular crowd at school and depicted her own self as a very cool girl named “Is,” Jamie’s world changes in a big way when the truth comes out. With the help of her friends, she learns that being cool is not as important as being yourself. The little twist in the story is that Jamie’s alter ego, Is, is played by Kay Panabaker’s real-life sister Danielle, who was in Disney’s Sky High (review). Is starts out as a ally to Jamie, then slowly turns on her and becomes the dominant personality until Jamie learns to speak for herself.
I felt there were several extremes in the movie; the Panabaker girls have good chemistry in the movie, but the rest of the cast is bland and unmemorable. The storyline has a good message for preteens, yet there is little humor or memorable scenes to get the message across. And what high school would have a 50-foot-long blue whale constructed by students filled with seaweed for the typical climactic scene at the school dance? Of course, the movie was not made for grown-ups in mind. However, my 10-year-old was much more interested in the DVD than the 12-year-old, which surprised me. Curiously, this movie about high school kids seems to appeal to a younger crowd, at least in my household.
The Goodies
There are three bonus features on the DVD. The first is a music video by Jordan Pruitt, “Outside Looking In.” From what I understand from my girls, Pruitt is a lower-level Disney Channel property since unlike Miley Cyrus or Ally and AJ, she does not have a TV show to go along with her albums. Apparently, she opened for High School Musical: The Concert, and the Cheetah Girls tour so someone in management must think she’s the next big thing. The other extra is a “making of” featurette that features four minutes of child actors exclaiming “we’re going to be friends for life!” and a very little bit about the relationship between sisters Kay and Danielle. If you insert the DVD into your computer you will be able to access the Disney Channel Original Movie featurette on the film that first aired on the Disney Channel as previews for the movie.
Audio, Video and Interface
The movie is presented in its original 1.33:1 fullscreen ratio and looks exactly as it did when it first aired…like a made-for-TV movie, which is actually a complement since Disney’s newer TV movies are of excellent audio and video quality. The audio is presented in the expected Dolby Digital 5.1 and sounds great. The interface does not feature any clips from the movie, but does have a journal theme in keeping with the film, and easy access to all the materials. A short clip of the score plays in the background.
The Final Evaluation
I don’t have a lot of negative things to say about Read It and Weep, but I can’t think of many reasons why a parent should go out and purchase the DVD for their kids. Other than the four minutes of new interviews, everything else has been seen and will continue to be seen on the Disney Channel. Set your video recorder to record it at some point and check out the crazy blue tinsel whale towards the end of the movie. If you’re like me, it will be one of the few things you’ll remember about the film.
