Picture This!

  • Review Date: July 1, 2008
  • PG-13
  • Genre: Comedy
  • 2008
 Review

Common Sense Media says

Cute, but sends iffy messages to Tisdale fans.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that the teens in this movie are inseparable from their video phones and sometimes border on voyeurism with their exploitation of peers' embarrassing moments. In one scene, for instance, a girl snaps a photo of her classmate's partially exposed thong underwear and emails it to the entire student body to humiliate her. While there's nothing beyond a kiss and slow dances to see, teens use terms like "do her and dump her" and "hump and dump" to refer to potential casual sex. The main character's rebellious teen behavior (sneaking out to attend a party, lying to parents, etc.) is cast in a humorous light, but she does learn valuable lessons about listening to her conscience.

  • The story centers on the social hierarchy of high school and the pressures to fit in with the elitist "cool" crowd. While disobeying family rules is made light of, there are some valuable lessons about listening to your conscience and not giving into peer pressure.
  • Nearly every teen uses a video phone to communicate with friends and to
    email embarrassing photos of classmates to their friends. A teen girl
    deceives her father, sneaking out of the house to go to a party that
    he's banned her from. Some girls play mean-spirited pranks on their peers to humiliate them. On the positive side, a teen finds the inner strength to make a difficult decision and to
    appreciate her father's love for her.
  • Not applicable.
  • Teens talk about sex in casual terms like "do her and dump her" and "hump and dump," but physical contact is limited to slow dances and one kiss. The main character swoons over the school's most popular boy, describing him as a "hottie" and vowing to do anything to get him to notice her.
  • Rare use of "hell," "damn," and "ass."
  • Not applicable.
  • One scene shows teens in a bar setting drinking what appears to be beer. A girl downs a bottle of her friend's allergy medicine after suffering an allergic reaction to nuts.

What's the story?

For Mandy Gilbert (Ashley Tisdale), senior year means just one thing: It's her last chance to get school hunk Drew Patterson (Robbie Amell) to notice her. After a few carefully crafted plans -- and one major mishap -- Mandy finds herself on speaking terms with Drew, who turns out to be even better than she'd imagined. She's overjoyed when Drew invites her to his party, but her dreams are crushed when her lovingly overprotective dad (Kevin Pollack) grounds her for lying to him. It will take a lot of ingenuity -- and some crafty work with her fancy new video phone -- to get Mandy to Drew's party on time. Only time will tell if she and her friends will be able to outsmart Drew's jealous ex-girlfriend, Lisa (Cindy Busby), who will stop at nothing to ensure Mandy doesn't win his heart.


Is it any good?

 

Adorable and talented, Tisdale (High School Musical) shines once again in this role as the lovably irrepressible Mandy, who always manages to rise above the adversity thrown in her path. Though it's certainly a stretch to imagine Tisdale as a social outcast, she puts her heart into the role and manages to make the story believable. Tweens will enjoy the funny take on the social structure of high school and will cheer along with Mandy's friends as she challenges the popularity scale and sets herself apart from the catty popular kids just by being true to her heart.

That said, the movie definitely needs a bit of cautionary follow-up on a few levels, especially for impressionable tweens. Mandy often uses her video phone to lie to her dad, contriving proof that she's at a friend's house studying when she's really getting ready for a party he's grounded her from. Other characters use their phones to exploit their peers' embarrassing moments, snapping photos of them in compromising situations and emailing them to friends. And then there are the iffy phrases the teens use -- like "hump and dump" and "do her and dump her." Finally, the movie implies that popularity is based solely on inherent factors like socioeconomic class rather than on personality. It's too bad these iffy messages distract from some of the fun.


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What families can talk about

  • Families can talk about friends and peer pressure. What message does this movie send about friendship and relating to people who are different from you?

  • Have you ever felt like you didn't belong? How did you respond? Did you
    feel pressured to change who you were?

  • Parents can also talk about
    making mature decisions. Have you ever been forced to make a difficult
    decision around your peers? Did you feel good about the outcome? Why is
    it hard to go against the flow?


This review was written by Emily Ashby
Teen, 15 years old
April 9, 2008
 

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Teen, 15 years old
December 8, 2009
 

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Parent of 7, 9, 12, and 12 year old
October 3, 2009
 
Witchcraft and Awkward Questions
This movie is terrible! The girls constantly use video phones which is no doubt responsible for many teen girls' lacking social skills. It's about a nerdy tramp named Mandy and the popular rich boy she will do anything to get. In one part, some popular girls think they're witches and one wears a vial of Marilyn Manson's blood around her neck! Ugh! They also make casual sexual references which confused my kids and left me in an awkward position. I am a feminist and their treatment of women greatly offended my sensibilities!!!

Flag as inappropriate 
Teen, 17 years old
April 9, 2008
 
I adored this movie!
This movie was a great movie but it did have like lying to her dad and its not that good kind of vibe that you should be sending to your children because there is alcohol and throwing up because of it so I Kind of recommend it to at least 13 year olds because of this

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 
Not Appropriate for ANY Tweens
I am pretty open-minded about what my kids watch, but this movie was wrong on so many levels. It wasn't just suggestive...it was blatant. I am disappointed in the 'family channel' for even airing this. My 14-year-old daughter was at a friend's house, and that mother turned it off (thankfully). I watched the whole movie after the kids went to bed, and I was shocked by the sex, the drinking, the lying, the malicious humiliation. Nothing, nothing, nothing, redeeming about this movie.

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Teen, 16 years old
April 9, 2008
 
This is just wrong
Ni, i'm not talking about the content like everyone else, I agree with CS's review. I'm talking about this terribly awful and horrid excuse for a film. Did i give it 1 star? OOPS! I meant -1,000 stars!!!! This is AWFUL! Not only does it portray parents as mentally insane prison wardens, it has no sense of coherence at all! Mandy simply could not have fooled her father like that! No person is that stupid, NO ONE! I just hated this film, period. I'm not gonna take up space, just say that this film is AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL!!!!!

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Teen, 17 years old
April 9, 2008
 
An under acheived film
I think this film was not worth the $5 at Blcokbuster. I thought it would be a bit like "Mean Girls". But, this film is noooo Mean Girls. I found this to be boring and not romantic or funny in any way. Teens should not waste their time watching this. Go see National Lampoon's Pledge This or Mean Girls. I would not recommend this film.

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Kid, 12 years old
August 30, 2010
 
dumbest movie ever
just another PREDICTABLE "teen" movie.

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Teen, 16 years old
October 9, 2009
 
In this movie, well, through out this movie Ashley Tisdale is lying to her father. (who I might add is a "wee" bit over protective) There is also some iffy material, cussing, and such. Not the best role models. But at the end of the movie she relizes just how great she has it. And she even gets the guy! ha! it is a little cheasy but I would watch it

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Teen, 16 years old
April 9, 2008
 
Good movie there is a lesson. Can you figure it out

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This review was written by Emily Ashby
Studio:MGM/UA
Director:Stephen Herek
Cast:Ashley Tisdale, Kevin Pollak, Robbie Amell
Genre:Comedy
Run time:92 minutes
Theatrical release date:July 2, 2008
DVD release date:July 22, 2008
MPAA rating:PG-13
MPAA explanation:some sexual references.

This review was written by Emily Ashby
 

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

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