Dramatic acting debut of Britney Spears, that Pied Piper of Girl Power. It definitely gives the pop star more latitude than her Pepsi commercials, to which homage is paid when she sashays past the vending machine at a gas station. But that's just another way of saying more rope with which to hang herself. The movie, directed by Tamra Davis, shows her off in her undies twice within the first fifteen minutes (two different ensembles, same day). Then it slows down in that department -- the lingerie department -- and takes off on the post-graduation road trip of three estranged high-school girlfriends: class valedictorian, pregnant trailer trash, and Miss Popularity. Spears, you would never guess, especially from the tawniness of her tan, is the cloistered bookworm ("Pop, I worked really hard to be the valedictorian"). Her adventures on the road include meeting the mother who abandoned her in infancy, winning a karaoke contest, losing her virginity, and wearing numerous different pink outfits. The proper audience for all this would be the one that has never before seen an expectant mother take a header down a flight of stairs. With Zoe Saldana, Taryn Manning, Anson Mount, Dan Aykroyd. (2002) — Duncan Shepherd
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