Beauty & the Briefcase

This TV movie is a cross between Sex and the City, Legally Blonde and Bridget Jones Diary.

Hilary Duff gets hired by Cosmopolitan magazine to write an article about finding true love by finding the right man in the corporate workplace. Duff goes undercover at a finance company. However she is unqualified to be a PA, she has lied in her CV, acts like a 16 year old high school student and it's a wonder that she has not been fired on her first day.

Like Legally Blonde her charm sees her through but the film has a shallow and silly premise. There is a side plot where she is attracted to a British executive and her boss is uptight but has plans to save the company money by going green.

Its an unashamed and cynical chick flick aimed at younger females and even they would think its too far fetched.

Where do I begin? This movie won a People's Choice nomination in 2010 for BEST FAMILY MOVIE!?! Say what? I am the last person in the world to want movies that reflect some artificial moral code - but this is misleading to parents who do feel that way. Lane, our heroine, lies, cheats, betrays her friend, has sex with someone she hardly knows repeatedly - and is really turned on by make-up sex. Personally, I think that's cool - but just a very odd heroine for a family movie.

That said, to me the movie itself played a lot like Sex and the City for the 20-something set. There is good girlfriend chemistry between the photographer, model, and Lane as they play cards with male torsos, etc., and joke about their guilty pleasures. As a movie, I found this sporadically amusing with a few of the photographer bits and one office bit very funny. I thought the friends did an excellent job doing their things. The film was well-paced, and there was some funny dialog. The acting in most of the supporting roles is fine - especially the affable Tom who must've had to work hard to say his lines with a straight face and still pull them all. Jaime Presley who plays Cosmo Editor Kate does likewise.

Obviously, as others have pointed out, the plot contrivances themselves regarding how she gets the Cosmo Story Assignment and how she gets the investment banking job are ridiculous - but what else is new in most comedies. You suspend your disbelief to accept the premise. That's OK with me.

So, Executive Producer Hilary Duff did a better-than-average job in putting together a Sex and the City for the 20-something set but not a family movie. Lead actress Duff is an abomination. Even given her character's moral wavering and hypocrisy, her dialog was still written well enough, she could've been a 20-something Carrie Bradshaw (narration, shoes, and all). Carrie has certainly had such lapses and we cheer when she looks in the mirror, learns, and leaps forward.

Not here, unfortunately. Duff was engaging child actress but she if this is representative work, she is gosh-awful as an adult. Her comic timing is off; her dialog reads project more than the hammiest emoters I have ever seen on stage; and her expressions do not connect with the interaction of her fellow actors.

Still, I was in a good mood and the plastic-wrap scene itself was funny enough so I gave it a 5. Ms. Duff should stick to producing and find another leading lady. Perhaps she can do a cameo.

I found this movie to be surprising. Well, of course I had my initial reservations about the movie in advance, being a chick flick and having Hillary Duff in it and all. But still, this movie turned out to be kind of alright.

The story, well, or what is supposed to be the story, is kind of far fetched, and a bit too quirky. But you get to live with that, because the actual story becomes part of the background fairly quickly.

What drives this movie are the characters, and the inevitable thing that you know will happen at the end - and it does! You quickly get immersed in the characters, and they are fairly nicely portrayed from everyone involved.

I actually found Hillary Duff, Matt Dallas and Michael McMillian to do quite a good job here. And I am not really much of a fan of Hillary Duff, but she pulled this one off nicely enough.

Of course, this sassy kind of romantic movie is intended to a female teen audience, and if you fall into that category, this movie would go straight home with you. I found the movie, however, to be fairly entertaining, though it is not a movie I will watch a second time around.

For a movie of this caliber, it is not too shabby, though it is sassy!

This movie, is truly an insult to younger women in or not in the corporate world. Lane is a superficial bimbo. She seems to think she can get just pretty much anything she imagines, without thinking about the consequences. She is a little over confident about her appearance and her intellect, which is kinda zero. And that stupid list of hers? What type of woman actually dates like that? She seems to be living in some dumb blond world. Oh oops, she is kinda blond isn't her? If this is how woman think they should act like to gain attention from others, it really is quite lame. The best word used in the entire movie? 'Flimsy' which best describes, Lane. The second she actually finds an intelligent man, who manages to carry a conversation, she gets bored. Oh god, and no one writes like that not even for magazine material.

Even for a lame B-grade teen movie, this fails on many levels. I mean, I'm a journalist myself and my job is NOTHING like what Lane does. I still cannot believe this movie did not get shelved and was actually released. Those who actually did enjoy this movie, I'm sorry to say must be those who live their life's out off a chick flick romance novel.

Every conversation, sounded like it was written by and for 12 year olds. I am truly sad that I actually lasted till the end of this pathetic excuse of a movie.

Lane (Hilary Duff) is a freelance writer, interested in fashion and writing feature articles for magazines catering to younger adult women. If she could pitch a story to Cosmo, and get accepted, that would be heaven. Happily, her roommate is a rising fashion photographer and SHE gets Lane an interview with a top Cosmo exec (Jaime Pressley). At first, the talk goes badly and Lane almost gets dismissed. But, thinking quickly, the two ladies begin to hatch an idea that springs from just "girl talk". What if Lane, who is looking for a man to match her "check list", goes undercover at an investment firm? Men are plentiful there and Lane can see if any of these gentlemen fulfill her list and, then, capture his heart. So, it begins. Lane fibs her way into a great job, through a creative resume and interview. She will be working for investor Tom (Michael McMillan) as a personal assistant with business savvy. Although a few hitches occur on her first day, Lane makes it through, once with the help of another gorgeous businessman, Seth. But, celebrating at a bar later, she meets a handsome English musician, Liam (Chris Carmack) who hits all of the qualities of her list, except one minor item. Oh, no! To complete her article, she has to concentrate on romancing a white-collar gent! But, Liam is so hot, he's sure to be a distraction! What's a poor girl to do, with eligible men at every turn? This is a darling romcom, sure to please every eager fans, like me. It's fun, its romantic and its charming. Duff makes a great leading lady and she looks terrific while McMillan, Carmack, Pressley, and all of the others support her well. The costumes are, as one can imagine, dreamy while the setting in Manhattan is always appealing. Add on a lively, comic script and a smooth direction and what do you get? In brief, sheer heaven, fans!