Raise Your Voice


Raise Your Voice is a 2004 American teen musical drama film directed by Sean McNamara. Canadian rock band Three Days Grace appeared in this movie as special guests, performing the songs "Are You Ready" and "Home". Raise Your Voice stars Hilary Duff.

Plot

Terri Fletcher is a teenager with a passion for singing and dreams of becoming a professional singer. She wants to participate in a music program that could give her a $10,000 scholarship. Her overprotective father Simon, a second-generation restaurateur, disapproves of Terri's plans, stating that being a singer may not be a worthwhile life choice. Simon believes that Terri will get hurt if she goes to Los Angeles and would prefer if she continues running the family business. Simon thinks this is the only way to keep Terri safe. Terri is very close to her elder brother Paul, who fully supports her dream, despite what their father says. At Paul's graduation-day barbecue, he has a fight with Simon, who, in the heat of it, grounds his son. Terri sneaks Paul out of the house to attend a Three Days Grace concert. On the way back, they have a car accident and are hit by a drunk driver. Terri awakens in the hospital, where she learns that Paul was killed.
Terri blames herself for Paul's death. She wants to quit singing and not attend the music program. Terri tells her mother, Frances, that if she hadn't convinced Paul to sneak out to the concert he'd still be alive. However, Frances explains that it's not her fault and that Paul would have wanted Terri to attend the program. She eventually convinces Terri to go. Frances tells Simon that Terri plans to stay with her aunt Nina in Palm Desert for the summer and allows her daughter to travel to Los Angeles.
Terri arrives in Los Angeles and weathers some difficult ordeals: her jacket is stolen, her cab driver is crabby, and when she arrives at the music school at night, the door is locked; fellow student Jay lets her in and Terri arrives safely. While at the program, Terri makes new friends and learns a great deal about music, but problems arise when she is plagued by memories of the car crash which took Paul's life and finds it increasingly difficult to keep her participation in the program a secret from her father.
Throughout the film, Terri develops a mutual fondness for Jay, but she faces competition from Robin Childers, who was involved with Jay the previous summer. Although Robin still harbors feelings for Jay, he does not reciprocate these feelings. Jay tries to get Robin to cease her efforts to keep him and Terri apart. On one occasion, she kisses him just as Terri walks in. Jay pushes Robin away, but Terri runs off in tears, ignoring Jay's insistence that the kiss meant nothing. Later, finding him drunk, Terri and her roommate Denise take Jay to the roof to sober up. When he does, Jay apologizes, and Terri agrees to finish the song they have been working on for the scholarship contest.
At home, Simon learns of Terri's ruse and becomes furious. Simon then drives to Los Angeles to bring Terri home in an effort to keep her safe. On the final day, Simon comes to the school and Terri finds him packing up her belongings; he reams Terri for disobeying and deceiving him, and for turning his own sister and wife against him. Terri begged her father not to make same mistake like he did with Paul and make her run. She begs him to let her finish what she started and not let the summer go to waste. Ultimately, realizing how selfish he had been acting concedes and allows her to perform. Terri and Jay then perform the song they wrote with Terri dedicating it to Paul. Even though Denise wins the scholarship prize, Simon is proud of his daughter and her talents. He is also glad that her last memory of Paul is one worth having, as opposed to Simon's own. Terri's teachers hope to see her next year; Simon replies that they just might. Over the end credits, Terri performs for her parents and Nina, with Jay cheering her on.

Cast

Critical reception

The film received mostly negative reviews, receiving 33 out of 100 by Metacritic and achieving a 15% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with 85 reviews and an average rating of 4.7 out of 10.

Box office

The film opened on October 8, 2004 and grossed $4,022,693 in its opening weekend at #6, behind Shark Tales second weekend, Friday Night Lights, Ladder 49s second weekend, Taxi, and The Forgottens third weekend. The film was also a flop at the box office.
By the end of its run, Raise Your Voice grossed $10,411,980 domestically and $4,455,534 internationally, totaling $14,867,514 worldwide.

Accolades

Raise Your Voice was nominated for an Artios Award for Outstanding Casting in Children's Programming Casting and a Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing in a Feature Film - Music/Musical.

Home media

The film was released on VHS and DVD on February 15, 2005.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was planned to be released before the film, but it was never released because Duff released her eponymous second album with the songs featured on the film. Three Days Grace also contributed the songs "Are You Ready" and "Home" to the film, the latter from their self-titled debut album.
Unreleased track listing
  1. "Play It Loud" – MxPx
  2. "Someone's Watching Over Me" – Hilary Duff
  3. "Jericho" – Hilary Duff
  4. "Fly" – Hilary Duff
  5. "Shine" – Hilary Duff
  6. "Walking on Sunshine" – Katrina and the Waves
  7. "Home" – Three Days Grace
  8. "Are You Ready?" – Three Days Grace
  9. "We Might as Well Be Strangers" – Keane
  10. "Lift Off" – Tina Sugandh