The music school is depicted as one of those places (again, that only exist in the movies) where absurdly precocious kids can improvise in every musical style simultaneously, and there is apparently only one student per talent (a violinist, a pianist, a "DJ," etc.). Hilary gradually overcomes her inhibitions and "raises her voice," so that in the big "talent show" scene, she even wins over the jaded LA hipster kids with her very Hilary Duff-esque pop. Even a smidgeon of a mite of realism would have been appreciated here. Points to the film for abruptly killing off Jason Ritter in the first 15 minutes (as every film with the misfortune of having cast that guy should do), but big non-points for making his death a major emotional element of the plot. Though I was pleased that they did—as I jokingly suggested immediately after seeing his on-screen death—superimpose him as a "ghostly inspiration" to Hilary in the climactic scene.
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