The Lizzie McGuire Movie
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution | Release Date: May 2, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
15
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleC.W. Nevius
It works. "Lizzie" is wholesome, smart and sweet. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyScott Brown
Let's face it: Lizzie McGuire (Hilary Duff) is just too darn polished to be a junior-high underdog, even by the standards of her 'luxe suburban environs. Read full review
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Doesn't try to be more than what it is: a romantic fantasy caper. Read full review
75
PremiereLaine Ewen
Duff is a charming heroine who carries the movie cheerfully, if not gracefully--the pratfalls come early and often. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The action is light and lively all the way, poking inventive fun at everything from nosy little brothers to clueless hotel managers and romantic Romans who aren't as glamorous as they claim to be. Read full review
70
The New York TimesDave Kehr
The picture unfolds as a light romantic comedy that adults will probably find familiar but tolerable, while their age-appropriate offspring will be transported to new heights of cinematic enchantment. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldChristine Dolen
The success of The Lizzie McGuire Movie, in which Duff acts and sings while playing both her beloved character and an Italian look-alike, is probably a slam dunk. That doesn't mean it's a great movie. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneAllison Benedikt
By filling in what the story lacks in originality with easy attractions like pretty faces, set to fluffy music, the filmmakers lose the outsider edge the Lizzie McGuire franchise was built on. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Not a single moment of creativity or intrigue is to be found in the big-screen debut of the Disney Channel's most popular sitcom character. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
So who am I to carp that the film trades in the amiable realism of the show for just another watered-down pop star fantasy? Heck, it beats the Olsen twins. But not by much. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerKaren Heller
Lizzie McGuire is an old-fashioned, harmless dolce, made all the more charming by Duff's winning appeal. Read full review
60
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Just two weeks after successfully targeting boys with "Holes," Disney is giving girls something they want with this mild, quasi-romantic romp. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverJean Oppenheimer
The movie lacks the adult humor of such kid flicks as "Shrek" and "Lilo & Stitch," but the target audience at an advance screening was shrieking with joy throughout. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderTed Shen
Director Jim Fall smoothly paces the action while staying true to the girlie thrills (luxury hotels, scenic jaunts, a fashion makeover), delivering an empty-headed but enjoyable romp. Read full review
60
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Disney's big-screen expansion of their hit TV show is nirvana for the pubescent crowd. Read full review
60
Film ThreatKevin Carr
Classic adolescent coming-of-age tale. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
So fluffy and sitcom shallow that it makes "Gidget Goes to Rome" and its other many predecessors in the young-American-girl-goes-to-Italy-and-falls-in-love genre look like high art. Read full review
50
New York PostMegan Lehmann
Lizzie McGuire's "Movie" doesn't try to be anything more than a superficial escapist fantasy for fans of the show. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia Puig
The movie is sure to appeal to fans of the show. But when quality family films, such as "Holes" and "Bend It Like Beckham," are also in theaters, why waste your time on this drivel? The answer, of course, is the kids will insist on it. Read full review
50
Film ThreatDavid Grove
The film is corny, predictable, and manipulative to the point that you feel like there’s electrodes attached from the screen to your brain, but, by the end of this film, I’ll be damned if I didn’t feel genuine affection for it and Lizzie in particular. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesGene Seymour
The movie, with all its brashness and crassness, can still claim noble motives in encouraging insecure young people to seek the pop diva buried deep within. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineAngel Cohn
Fans may be disappointed that some of the show's secondary characters, like Lizzie's pal Miranda, are AWOL from this Prince and the Pauper-style escapade, and some of the scenes involving Gellman are disappointingly flat. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Hilary Duff is beautiful and skilled, and I hope she finds something worthwhile to do with her talent before she truly does become the next Britney Spears and has to start worrying about the next Hilary Duff. Read full review
50
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
How much adorable can one person take? Read full review
40
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
As it goes with the TV show, so it goes with the movie, which benefits from being shot largely in Rome and suffers from trying to stretch its sitcom antics to feature length. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyDavid Chute
The cast of the Disney Channel's Lizzie McGuire romped strenuously through a plot that would be old hat as a two-parter on a sitcom. Read full review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Ray Conlogue
There's not a scrap of imagination in the script. Read full review
30
Washington PostJane Horwitz
If your kids are too young to sit unsupervised, get together with other parents and pay an older sibling or sitter to go. Read full review
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