TV Times

TV Times

First Daughter Breaks Free
By Harinda Vidanage
A Romantic comedy may be appropriate to start the reviews on the New Year movie line up. Some movies are not padded up by key movie ratings no big turnovers in release. But movies which can be enjoyed by a vast majority and can give you a good laugh are also worth mentioning.

Thus Chasing Liberty is such a movie which captured the hearts of many movie goers this January. The gist of the story line is teenage beauty Anna Foster (Mandy Moore) who wants the American dream: life and liberty to pursue happiness. She has got a technical problem in the form of being the only child of the President of the United States. With Anna’s life constantly monitored by the media, the public and her very protective parents who are backed up by a battalion of Secret Service agents that safeguard Anna from any danger, including the perils of first dates. But with all the Charms and adolescent desires, Anna just wants the freedom to live life like any other teenager, which means ditching the agents who are seriously curbing her good times.

This is her adventure and the quite unexpected situation she is put into. Screenwriting team Derek Guiley and David Schneiderman for Chasing Liberty first got the idea for their story while watching a Stanford basketball game and seeing then-First Daughter and Stanford undergrad Chelsea Clinton in the stands. Hounded by cameras, “She was trying to live the life of a normal college student, despite the fact of who her father was,” and “You knew that nearby there must have been Secret Service agents watching her every move. We couldn’t help but imagine how frustrating it must be for someone to go through his or her teenage years like that, said the duo in an interview with a showbiz magazine.

The choice for the character of first daughter went to Mandy Moore. She was last seen starring in Clare Kilner’s How to Deal, with Allison Janney. She also starred opposite Shane West in Adam Shankman’s box-office success A Walk to Remember for Warner Bros. Pictures, based on the best-selling novel by Nicholas Sparks, and performed four songs, which were featured on the soundtrack.

“Mandy became a household name at a very early age,” notes Chasing Liberty director Andy Cadiff on why she was chosen for the character of Anna Foster. “She had to cope with celebrity and learn to deal with adults in a professional way while she was still a kid, and yet she has maintained a sunny outlook on life.” Calling Moore’s participation “dream casting,” Cadiff says, “we needed someone who brought a sense of innocence and exuberance to the role, as well as sophistication, and Mandy has all of that in spades.”

Moore came to national attention with the 1999 release of her debut album, So Real, which reached platinum status in a remarkable three months and produced the top ten single “Candy.” Her second album, I Wanna Be With You (Special Edition), was released in May 2000 and also went platinum. Her self-titled third album is currently in stores and features the hit single “Cry.”

The stunt she pulls in the movie as first daughter who executes a plan of her to get the much needed freedom by extracting a promise from her father, the President, which allows her a night alone, unescorted. But when her dad has a change of heart, Anna decides to take things into her own hands. In a wild escape, incognito Anna meets mysterious stranger Ben Calder (Matthew Goode), who reluctantly aids her European getaway. Reveling in her newfound independence, Anna decides to take Europe by storm, accompanied by dashing Ben.

By the time they realize they may have some very strong feelings for one another, Anna is afraid to tell Ben who she really is and he’s doubly afraid to tell her who he really is. Chasing Liberty spans a total of 80 sets spread over five countries. Sets were predominately practical with locations both urban and rural in England, Italy and Czech Republic, with additional photography in Germany and the U.S. This Romantic comedy is loved by many vice versa subjected to severe bashing from film critics but even the fun loving movie goers must chase their liberty sans direction to what to and what not to watch.

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