From Justin to Kelly

From Justin to Kelly

From Justin to Kelly (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

From Justin to Kelly is a 2003 American romantic comedy musical film starring Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini, the winner and runner-up, respectively, of the first season of American Idol. It is considered to be one of the worst films ever made, winning the Golden Raspberry Award for "Worst 'Musical' of Our First 25 Years" in 2005.

Plot

The film is set during spring break in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Texan singing waitress Kelly Taylor (Kelly Clarkson) meets Pennsylvanian college student Justin Bell (Justin Guarini), and they fall for each other, and various romantic complications ensue. Kelly's friend Kaya (Anika Noni Rose) falls in love with charming busboy Carlos (Jason Yribar); Kelly's other friend, Alexa (Katherine Bailess), schemes to keep Justin and Kelly from meeting; Justin's friend Brandon (Greg Siff) is always getting on the wrong side of a sexy beach patrolwoman (Theresa San-Nicholas); and Justin's other friend, Eddie (Brian Dietzen), tries to hook up with a cyberpal.

Cast

Kelly Clarkson as Kelly Taylor
Justin Guarini as Justin Bell
Katherine Bailess as Alexa
Anika Noni Rose as Kaya
Brian Dietzen as Eddie
Greg Siff as Brandon
Jason Yribar as Carlos
Christopher Bryan as Luke
Theresa San-Nicholas as Officer Cutler
Justin Gorence as Greg
Kaitlin Riley as Ashley
Marc Macaulay as Mr. O'Mara
Jessica Sutta as Bracelet Girl

Reception

In its opening weekend, the film grossed $2,715,848 million in 2,001 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #11 at the box office. By the end of its run, From Justin to Kelly grossed $4,928,883 domestically, was a box office bomb, and received a 8% rating out of 59 reviews at Rotten Tomatoes. 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."

Some theater chains threatened not to screen the movie 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 the opening-weekend flop, Fox reinstated the original release schedule.

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. However, the movie was better received by the Teen Choice Awards, as it was nominated for two Choice Movie Breakout Stars (for Guarini and Clarkson) and Choice Chemistry.

Awards

Year	Result	Award	Category
2003	Nomination	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Breakout Star (Female), Kelly Clarkson
			Choice Movie Breakout Star (Male), Justin Guarini
			Choice Movie Chemistry, Kelly Clarkson & Justin Guarini
2004	Won	Governor's Award	Distinguished Under-Achievement in Choreography
	Nomination	Razzie Awards	Worst Actor, Justin Guarini
			Worst Actress, Kelly Clarkson
			Worst Picture
			Worst Director, Robert Iscove
			Worst Screenplay, Kim Fuller
			Worst Remake or Sequel (remake of both Where the Boys Are and Where the Boys Are '84)
			Worst Screen Couple (Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini)
2005	Won		Worst Musical of Our First 25 Years

Home media

When From Justin to Kelly was released on DVD, an extended version of 90 minutes was released as well. This extended version includes two new musical numbers "From Me to You" and "Brighter Star", additional lyrics and more sensual choreography to "Wish Upon a Star", and a scene involving a "Dare to Be Bare" contest.

Soundtrack

A commercial soundtrack was created with studio tracks but never released, due to the poor reception and income of the film. 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 fansites. 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):

"I Won't Stand in Line" (Original artist: Reba McEntire)
"Vacation" (Original artist: The Go-Go's)
"The Bounce (The Luv)"
"Brandon's Rap"
"Forever Part of Me"
"It's Meant to Be"
"Timeless" (Also released on Justin Guarini's debut CD Justin Guarini)
"Brighter Star" (Extended Version DVD)
"Wish Upon a Star"
"Anytime" (Alternate version on Kelly Clarkson's debut CD Thankful)
"Madness"
"Timeless (Reprise)"
"From Me to You" (Extended Version DVD)
"Anytime (Reprise)"
"That's the Way (I Like It)" (Lyrically changed cover of original song by KC and the Sunshine Band)
"Sugar"