From Justin to Kelly

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From Justin to Kelly
On a beach setting, a young woman has her arms around a young man with the film's title in semi-pleasant cursive underneath followed by the credits.
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRobert Iscove
Written byKim Fuller
Produced by
  • Robert Engelman
  • Nikki Boella
Starring
CinematographyFrancis Kenny
Edited by
  • Tirsa Hackshaw
  • Casey O. Rohrs
Music by
Production
company
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • June 20, 2003 (2003-06-20)
Running time
81 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$12 million[1]
Box office$4.9 million[1]

From Justin to Kelly is a 2003 American musical romantic comedy film written by Kim Fuller and directed by Robert Iscove. The film, starring American Idol first season winner Kelly Clarkson and runner-up Justin Guarini, won the Golden Raspberry Award for "Worst 'Musical' of Our First 25 Years" in 2005. This film is often regarded as one of the worst movies ever made.

Plot[]

In Texas, Kelly Taylor gets by working at a bar, both as a waitress and a singer, where she is flirted by many cowboy attendees, including Greg. She is invited by her friends and college students Alexa and Kaya to vacation in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for spring break. Although a generally reserved woman finding the usual spring break partying and sexual activities demeaning, she accepts the offer to escape from the miserable environment of her bar job. Meanwhile, Pennsylvanian college student, Justin Bell, is also in Fort Lauderdale with his friends Brandon, a sexually-promiscuous person that constantly gets in trouble with patrolwoman Officer Cutler, and Eddie, a geek who tries to hook up with a cyber-pal he has met for year.

When Kelly, Alexa and Kaya arrive, they dance along with the crowd of a beach concert, where Kelly first encounters Justin. To escape the noise, they meet each other in a bathroom, where Kelly draws her phone number on a napkin and gives it to him. He accidentally drops it in a pond, prompting Justin to ask Alexa for it, which she draws on his hand. However, it's actually Alexa's phone number; she, developing an instant attraction to him, pulls this trick so that she can intercept Justin's messages and make him believe Kelly is not into him. Alexa and Kaya force Kelly to take part in a whip cream bikini contest, of which Justin is the host. Kelly initially is angry at Justin for being tricked into thinking he had more self-respect than she thought, but the two resolve the conflict via a boat ride, where further bonding occurs.

Meanwhile, Kaya is into a busboy making minimum wage, Carlos. He is initially annoyed by Kaya, finding a wealthy college student's interest and concern of him condescending. Kaya visits Carlos at the place he works. she complains to Carlos' boss about his management, which results in Carlos getting fired. Carlos then apologizes to Kaya and sets up a table for the two, floating on a pool. Eddie continues to look for her online date, getting knocked up by a jockey in a hotel room in the process.

Alexa continues trying to keep Justin away from Kelly. When Justin and Kelly plan to meet at the beach one night, Alexa, as "Kelly", sends Justin a message stating she's not interested. She goes to the place Kelly meant to see Justin, lying that Justin told her he meet Kelly just to get to Alexa. Alexa then calls Greg and informs him Kelly is in Florida. Greg goes to meet Kelly to claim her as his boyfriend, and Justin negatively reacts to the situation. The two fight on hovercraft with each other in order to determine who will get Kelly. Kelly finds Alexa kissing with Justin at a bar. Alexa confesses to an upset Kelly of her scheme, reasoning that she got jealous of all the attention from guys Kelly normally gets. Alexa brings Justin to Kelly. Both Justin and Kelly are together, as is Kaya with Carlos, Brandon with Cutler, and Eddie with his internet date.

Cast[]

Production[]

From Justin to Kelly was made in about two-and-a-half months; three weeks was spent for actor readings of the script (of which revisions were still going on) and rehearsals for dances and singing before the six-week shooting schedule.[2] American Idol competitors R. J. Helton and Christina Christian visited the set but don't appear in the film.[2]

Release[]

Some theater chains threatened not to screen the film at all when distributor 20th Century Fox announced plans to rush it to VHS and DVD a mere six weeks after its opening weekend, but Fox ultimately relented and pushed the release date back a number of months. After underperforming its first weekend, Fox reinstated the original release schedule and the film was released via home media on August 26, 2003.

Box office[]

In its opening weekend, From Justin to Kelly grossed $2,715,848 in 2,001 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #11 at the box office.[3] By the end of its run on July 24, 2003, the film had grossed $4,928,883 in the domestic box office. Based on a $12 million budget, the film was a box office bomb.[1]

Critical reception[]

The film has a 9% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 64 reviews; the average rating is 3.2/10. The consensus states: "A notorious stinker, From Justin to Kelly features banal songs, a witless plot, and non-existent chemistry between its American Idol-sanctioned leads."[4] The film has a score of 14 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 16 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike".[5] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.[6]

Entertainment Weekly film critic Owen Gleiberman wrote in his review, "How bad is From Justin to Kelly? Set in Miami during spring break, it's like Grease: The Next Generation acted out by the food-court staff at SeaWorld."[7] Time Magazine described the film as "a monstrous Idol movie musical that in the most generous light is the worst film so far this century".[8]

Reception from Clarkson[]

Clarkson has since stated that before the film went into production, she pleaded with the creator of American Idol to be relieved from the contractual obligation to star in the film and that she has always disliked From Justin to Kelly.[9] In an interview, she admitted she joined the film only because she was contractually obligated to do so: "I knew when I read the script it was going to be real, real bad, but when I won, I signed that piece of paper, and I could not get out of it."[8]

Accolades[]

The film is listed in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book The Official Razzie Movie Guide as one of The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made.[10]

The choreography was considered so bad that a special Golden Raspberry "Governor's Award" was created as an excuse to present the film with a Razzie.

Total Film magazine ranked the film at number 16 in their list of 66 Worst Movies Of All Time.[11]

Award Category Recipient Result
Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards Worst Film Nominated
Golden Raspberry Awards (2003)[12][13] Worst Picture Robert Engelman and Nikki Boella Nominated
Worst Director Robert Iscove Nominated
Worst Actor Justin Guarini Nominated
Worst Actress Kelly Clarkson Nominated
Worst Screenplay Kim Fuller Nominated
Worst Screen Couple Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini Nominated
Worst Prequel or Sequel From Justin to Kelly (remake of both Where the Boys Are and Where the Boys Are '84) Nominated
Worst Excuse for an Actual Movie (All Concept/No Content) Nominated
Governor's Award for Distinguished Under-Achievement in Choreography Travis Payne Won
Golden Raspberry Awards (2004) Worst "Musical" of Our First 25 Years Won
Stinkers Bad Movie Awards[14] Worst Picture Robert Engelman and Nikki Boella Nominated
Worst Director Robert Iscove Nominated
Worst Actor Justin Guarini Nominated
Worst Actress Kelly Clarkson Nominated
Worst On-Screen Couple Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini Nominated
Worst On-Screen Group The Pennsylvania Posse Nominated
Most Annoying Fake Accent (Female) Kelly Clarkson Nominated
Worst Song or Song Performance in a Film or Its End Credits "Anytime" by Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini Won
Teen Choice Awards[15] Choice Movie Chemistry Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini Nominated
Choice Breakout Movie Actor Justin Guarini Nominated
Choice Breakout Movie Actress Kelly Clarkson Nominated

Home media[]

The DVD release includes an extended version of 90 minutes which has two new musical numbers, "From Me to You" and "Brighter Star", additional lyrics, more sensual choreography to "Wish Upon a Star", and a scene involving a "Dare to Be Bare" contest.[16]

Soundtrack[]

A commercial soundtrack with studio tracks was produced but remains unreleased due to the film's negative reception and unsatisfactory box office returns. However, a version of the song "Timeless", sung by Clarkson and Guarini, and recorded prior to the film, was included on Guarini's self-titled debut album. The tracks of the unreleased studio soundtrack can be found on various Clarkson fan sites. Two songs, "From Me to You" and "Brighter Star", did not appear in the theatrical release, but were added to the extended version DVD release. Clarkson also performed "The Bounce (The Luv)", and "Timeless" during her shared (with Clay Aiken) "Independent Tour" in 2003 with her male backup singer performing the male vocals on "Timeless".

Songs used in the film and soundtrack (in order of appearance):

  1. "I Won't Stand in Line" (Original artist: Reba McEntire)
  2. "Vacation" (Original artist: The Go-Go's)
  3. "The Bounce (The Luv)"
  4. "Brandon's Rap"
  5. "Forever Part of Me"
  6. "It's Meant to Be"
  7. "Timeless" (Also released on Guarini's debut CD Justin Guarini)
  8. "Brighter Star" (Extended version)
  9. "Wish Upon a Star"
  10. "Anytime" (Alternate version on Clarkson's debut CD Thankful)
  11. "Madness"
  12. "Timeless (Reprise)"
  13. "From Me to You" (Extended version)
  14. "Anytime (Reprise)"
  15. "That's the Way (I Like It)" (Lyrically changed cover of original song by KC and the Sunshine Band)
  16. "Sugar"

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "From Justin to Kelly (2003)". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. July 25, 2003. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  2. ^ a b Tugend, Alina (June 8, 2003). "It's no contest". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 18, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  3. ^ "Weekend Box Office Results for June 20-22, 2003". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. June 23, 2003. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  4. ^ "From Justin to Kelly". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
  5. ^ "From Justin to Kelly". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  6. ^ "CinemaScore". CinemaScore. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  7. ^ Gleiberman, Owen (May 23, 2003). "Movie Review From Justin to Kelly (2003)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 21, 2009.
  8. ^ a b "Miss Independent" Josh Tyrangiel. Time Magazine February 05, 2006 (Subscription Required).
  9. ^ https://www.refinery29.com/2017/09/173883/kelly-clarkson-from-justin-to-kelly-american-idol
  10. ^ Wilson, John (2005). The Official Razzie Movie Guide: Enjoying the Best of Hollywood's Worst. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 0-446-69334-0.
  11. ^ 66 Worst Movies of All Time, Total Film.[1] February 15th 2012. Retrieved January 17th 2014.
  12. ^ "24th Annual Golden Raspberry (RAZZIE®) Award Nominations". Razzies.com (Press release). March 18, 2004. Archived from the original on March 16, 2004.
  13. ^ "The 24th Annual RAZZIE® Awards "WINNERS" Announced". Razzies.com (Press release). Archived from the original on March 16, 2004.
  14. ^ "2003 26th Hastings Bad Cinema Society Stinkers Awards". Stinkers Bad Movie Awards. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 3, 2007. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  15. ^ "2003 Teen Choice Awards Nominees". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. June 18, 2003. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  16. ^ Beierle, Aaron (August 14, 2003). "From Justin To Kelly (Special Edition)". DVD Talk. Retrieved June 28, 2015.

External links[]

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