Hilary Duff Movies
Teen actress Hilary Duff quickly rose to fame on the strength of her winning performance on the successful television series Lizzie McGuire. Born in Houston, TX, September 28, 1987, she developed an interest in dance at the age of six and began taking ballet lessons, later making her stage debut in a Christmas production of The Nutcracker. She developed a stronger passion for acting after being cast in a television commercial, and, in 1998, appeared in the direct-to-video Casper Meets Wendy as Wendy, a youthful witch.After taking on more dramatic roles in the made-for-TV movie The Soul Collector and a guest appearance on Chicago Hope, Duff was cast in the title role of Lizzie McGuire in 2001. A sitcom for young people, Lizzie McGuire concerned the trials and tribulations of middle-school student Lizzie as she and her animated alter ego deal with the funny side of adolescence. An immediate hit on The Disney Channel, the show made Duff a recognizable face to television viewers, and Disney quickly responded by casting her in a made-for-cable movie, Cadet Kelly, which earned high ratings. In 2002, the actress also made a brief appearance in the offbeat comedy Human Nature, playing Young Lila, a hirsute child who grows up to become Patricia Arquette.
After the success of Lizzie McGuire, Duff branched out into music, writing and singing a song for the show's soundtrack album, and recording a Christmas album in 2002. Released in theaters in the summer of 2003, The Lizzie McGuire Movie provided the ideal cinematic alternative for pre-teen girls uninterested in the exploits of X2: X-Men United and too young to be swept up in the hype of The Matrix Reloaded. Taking in twice the cost of production in only four weeks at the box office, Duff stunned fans less than a month after the film's stateside release by announcing that, due to contract negotiation failures, she would be departing from the lucrative Lizzie McGuire franchise to pursue other career opportunities. By the time the show's finale aired in 2004, Duff had already kicked her film career into high gear, closing out 2003 with three hit films under her belt: Agent Cody Banks, the aforementioned Lizzie McGuire Movie, and the holiday blockbuster Cheaper by the Dozen.
Hoping to keep her momentum growing, Duff attached herself to another trio of features, two of which were helmed by Lizzie McGuire director Mark Rosman. The first was the drama Raise Your Voice, playing a small-town girl who learns to fight for her superstar dreams. In 2005 she returned for the sequel Cheaper by the Dozen 2, and starred opposite Heather Locklear in the Mermaids-like romantic comedy The Perfect Man. In 2006 Hilary starred and produced in the Martha Coolidge helmed Material Girls, where she and sister Haylie played spoiled heiresses whose lives change radically when their family loses its fortune. The butter-knife sharp satire failed to connect even with the Duffs' core audience. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
A period comedy set in the 1980s, Jonathan Glatzer's What Goes Up tells the poignant story of a morally challenged New York reporter who connects with a group of high school outcasts while in New Hampshire covering the story of Christa McAuliffe, the first civilian astronaut. Arriving in McAullife's hometown, reporter Campbell Babbitt (Steve Coogan) is distraught to learn that an old college friend has recently committed suicide. Meanwhile, as Babbitt attempts to craft an unsung hero story about his old friend by gravitating toward the teacher's misfit students, local teacher (Molly Shannon) scrambles to cover up a looming scandal. When Babbitt discovers that the motley crew of teens is comprised of a self-absorbed seductress (Hilary Duff), a timid voyeur (Josh Peck), and a manipulative pregnant teen (Olivia Thirlby), he becomes obsessed with our need to create heroes where none exist. Over time, the roles are reversed and Babbitt learns that the traits he is currently projecting onto his fallen friend's students may in fact be traits possessed by he and other adults. Increasingly at ease around the students as he relates to them on their own terms, Babbitt gradually begins to form a fixation on the very student rumored to have had an affair with his deceased friend. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Coogan, Hilary Duff, (more)
Charlie Sheen, Hilary Duff, Eva Longoria Parker, and Chris Kattan lend their voices to this computer-animated tale of a grocery store that springs to life after the doors have been locked and the workers have all gone home. When the employees are away, the products will play -- and in this store the playground of choice for the most fun-loving brand names around is the Copa-Banana. Located in the produce aisle, the Copa-Banana is the destination of choice for such celebrity icons as Mr. Clean, Charlie the Tuna, and the Energizer Bunny. But trouble is brewing within this bustling metropolis, because when the villainous Lady X (Longoria Parker) arrives in town with her Brand X minions, the brand-named products start to get a little hot under the label. As sleuthing USDA (United Supermarkets Defense Association) Dex Dogtective (Sheen) teams with flying stunt squirrel Daredevil Dan (Wayne Brady) and the beautiful Sunshine Goodness (Duff) to uncover the truth about these unmarked invaders, it begins to appear that the only way to fend off the dreaded Brand X is to engage them in an all-out, no-holds-barred food fight. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Charlie Sheen, Eva Longoria Parker, (more)
- 2008
- PG13
- Add Greta to Queue
Hilary Duff and Evan Ross star in this interracial teen romance about a waitress whose summer romance with an ambitious cook is threatened when her grandparents (Ellen Burstyn and Michael Murphy) voice concern about her new boyfriend's criminal history. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hilary Duff, Evan Ross, (more)
- 2008
A successful author is forced to contend with an unrequited crush from high school upon returning to his hometown to give the commencement speech to the graduating class of seniors. Winona Ryder, Mark Polish, Hilary Duff, Sean Astin, Chevy Chase, and Jon Cryer star in a "knowing-your-age" comedy featuring Lost star Josh Holloway. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Polish, Winona Ryder, (more)
An assassin posing as a trade-show producer fixes his crosshairs on a Middle Eastern oil minister while maintaining his cover by organizing a high-profile wedding in this satirical action comedy starring John Cusack, Hilary Duff, and Marisa Tomei. A private American corporation run by a former U.S. vice president (Dan Aykroyd) is occupying the war-torn nation of Turaqistan, but a powerful Middle Eastern oil minister is preventing them from taking total advantage of the situation. In order to gain a monopoly on the lucrative opportunities that Turaqistan has to offer, the CEO of the corporation hires an evenhanded hitman named Hauser (Cusack) to take the oil minister out of the picture. Now, in order to carry out the contract without a hitch, Hauser will pose as the corporation's trade-show producer. The stakes are high and the potential for disaster is evident, though if Hauser can successfully organize the wedding of Central Asian pop-star Yonica Babyyeah (Duff), he's got a good chance of pulling it off. But sexy and resourceful left-wing reporter Natalie Hegalhuzen (Tomei) is determined to uncover the truth about what's happening in Turaqistan, and the moment she does, this carefully constructed scheme will crumble like a house of cards. Joshua Seftel directs a screenplay co-written by Mark Leyner, Jeremy Pikser, and producer/star John Cusack. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Cusack, Hilary Duff, (more)
Stripped of their wealth and forced to fend for themselves when the multi-million-dollar cosmetics company inherited from their father suffers due to controversy, two sisters who have never known the simple life must finally find out how the other half lives in a high-fashion comedy about hard times starring Hilary and Haylie Duff. Ava (Haylie) and Tanza (Hilary) are teen heiresses whose charmed lives consist of little more than showing up at all the hottest celebrity parties and putting in the occasional cameo at their company's board meetings while letting the responsible adults in charge handle all of the complicated details. All of that changes, however, when an unforeseen scandal robs the privileged "celebutantes" of their car, their cash, and even their lavish home; but what's a poor little rich girl to do when everything she's ever known is suddenly made null and void? In the case of Ava and Tanza, the only answer is to use their substantial setback as a means of realizing their true potential, and put the wisdom imparted to them by their father to use in clearing the family name and proving that there's much more to life than the almighty dollar. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hilary Duff, Haylie Duff, (more)
The jumbo-sized Baker family are back in this sequel to the 2003 box-office hit Cheaper by the Dozen. College football coach Tom Baker (Steve Martin) and his wife, author Kate Baker (Bonnie Hunt), have decided its time they took their sizable brood of 12 children on a summer vacation, and so they pack up the cars and take the kids to Lake Winnetka for some camping. Not all the kids are happy about this, but the one who is really annoyed turns out to be Tom, who discovers his old rival Jimmy Murtaugh (Eugene Levy) is also staying near the lake. Jimmy and his trophy wife, Sarina (Carmen Electra), also have a large family of eight children, and Jimmy and Tom seem intent upon one-upping each other at every opportunity. As the tensions mount, the Baker family and the Murtaugh clan face off in a not-so-good-natured series of family games to determine which of the parents have the greater bragging rights. In addition to Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt, the actors playing the 12 Baker children from the 2003 film return for Cheaper by the Dozen 2, including Hilary Duff, Piper Perabo, Tom Welling, and Kevin Schmidt. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Martin, Eugene Levy, (more)
A girl plays Cupid for her mom, but has to invent the right man to woo her in this romantic comedy. Jean Hamilton (Heather Locklear) is a single mother with two daughters, teenaged Holly (Hilary Duff) and grade-school-aged Zoe (Aria Wallace). Fortysomething Jean has stumbled in and out of a number of bad relationships in her lifetime, and is desperate to find a good man; however, Holly has grown a bit tired of Jean's favored means of therapy after a bad breakup -- packing up the family and moving to a new city. Once Jean and her girls settle in Brooklyn, Holly thinks they should stay for a while, and when Jean's romantic prospects begin to look less than rosy, Holly and her new friend Amy (Vanessa Lengies) decide to invent a secret admirer for her. Needing advice on what the "perfect man" would say and do, Holly and Amy turn to Ben (Chris Noth), Amy's uncle who talks a very good game when it comes to romance. But convincing Jean that there's a real man behind the steady stream of letters and e-mails from her new admirer isn't as easy as Holly imagines, and it looks as if her imaginary suitor might get in the way of a flesh-and-blood Mr. Right. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hilary Duff, Heather Locklear, (more)
- 2004
- Add Hilary Duff: The Concert - The Girl Can Rock to QueueAdd Hilary Duff: The Concert - The Girl Can Rock to top of Queue
Teen sensation Hilary Duff, hot on the heels of her success on television and movies, takes on the world of music in this video, which captures the young singer on-stage. Hilary Duff: The Concert -- The Girl Can Rock offers a glimpse of Duff recording her new album, shooting the video for the song "Come Clean," and rehearsing her live show before delivering the sights and sounds of Hilary and her band rocking out for a sold-out crowd of loyal fans. Songs performed include "So Yesterday," "Why Not," "Metamorphosis," "Sweet 16," "Party Up," and more. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Teen pop star Hilary Duff offers her fans a behind-the-scenes look at the filming of one of her music videos in this home-video release. Hilary Duff: Learning to Fly documents the making of the clip for her song "Fly", as well as the preparations for her concert tour. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
A teenage girl learns that reaching for your dreams isn't always easy in this heartfelt drama with music. Terri Fletcher (Hilary Duff) is a small-town girl with a great love of music and a fine singing voice. Already one of the lead vocalists in her church choir, Terri has also appeared at local nightspots with some help from her older brother. When he tragically dies in an auto accident, Terri becomes all the more determined to make the most of her talent, and she's elated when she's accepted as part of a summer study program at one of California's most prestigious music schools; however, Terri attends over the stern objections of her father. As she tries to hold together her relationship with her family, she finds herself falling for one of her fellow students, Jay (Oliver James), and competing for attention against dozens of kids whose talent rivals her own. Raise Your Voice also features Jason Ritter, Rebecca De Mornay, Rita Wilson, David Keith, and John Corbett. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hilary Duff, Oliver James, (more)
- 2004
The weekly, 30-minute MTV reality series Laguna Beach focused on a group of California teenagers as they endured their final years (or, in many cases, final year) of high school. Season one was narrated by high school senior Lauren Conrad (or L.C.) a party animal and Laguna Beach's "Most Irresistable Girl" (by popular vote). Introduced in the course of events was a junior named Kristin Cavallari, who would take over the narration for Season two. The tensions between L.C. and Kristin formulated several of the episodes, which not surprisingly were dominated by issues of dating, peer pressure, popularity, and ambitions for life beyond high school. The MTV camera crew was given unlimited access to the eight students' activities on and off campus, with sometimes shocking, sometimes heartbreaking, and sometimes hilarious results. Created by the same team responsible for The Real World, and outfitted with a theme song written and performed by no less than Hilary Duff, Laguna Beach was first telecast on September 28, 2004. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Cute but geeky high-school student Samantha Martin (Hilary Duff) is knocked off her feet by her father's untimely death, which leaves his diner and Samantha's well-being in the care of Fiona (Jennifer Coolidge), Sam's thoroughly wicked stepmother. Not one to take on such menial tasks as dishwashing and mopping floors, Fiona exploits Sam's dependence as a method of hoisting any dirty work off her own shoulders. School is hardly a break for Samantha, particularly when Shelby (Julie Gonzalo) is around; spoiled, wealthy, and popular, Shelby treats Samantha nearly as badly as Fiona does. Samantha's life is irrevocably changed, however, by two events: a makeover of epic proportions and a sudden electronic correspondence with a mysterious young man. Due to a misplaced cell phone and a series of fateful coincidences, Samantha and her Prince Charming develop a romance through text messages and e-mails, and ultimately promise to meet face-to-face at the biggest school dance of the year. Of course, getting there doesn't go smoothly, and Samantha may miss her chance to meet her dream date -- none other than Austin (Chad Michael Murray), the most popular boy in school. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hilary Duff, Jennifer Coolidge, (more)
A teen learns that all the gadgets in the world can't help him overcome his awkwardness around the opposite sex in this big-budget family entertainment. In Agent Cody Banks, Malcolm in the Middle star Frankie Muniz plays a young man plucked from suburban obscurity to be trained as a CIA super-agent. His mission? Get friendly with his classmate Natalie (played by another teen TV star, Lizzie McGuire's Hilary Duff) so that he can uncover her father's diabolical scheme to create indestructible robots. To compound his problems, Cody also has to deal with the same stresses as any adolescent: nagging parents, insufferable classwork, and a fragile sense of self-esteem. Agent Cody Banks was produced by MGM, not coincidentally the studio responsible for another popular spy franchise, the venerable James Bond series. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Frankie Muniz, Hilary Duff, (more)
Shawn Levy directs the family-oriented comedy Cheaper by the Dozen, a loose remake of the 1950 film starring Clifton Webb and Myrna Loy, which was itself based on a novel. Tom (Steve Martin) and Kate Baker (Bonnie Hunt) have made many sacrifices in their professional lives in order to raise their 12 children. When Tom is offered a job as a Division I college football coach, he moves the entire pack to a suburb of Chicago. This move shakes up the whole family, especially when Kate's memoirs get published and she takes off on a book tour. The lack of parental guidance creates problems for all the Baker kids, particularly handsome jock Charlie (Tom Welling), fashion plate Lorraine (Hilary Duff), and grown child Nora (Piper Perabo). Ashton Kucher stars in a cameo role as Nora's actor boyfriend, Hank. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, (more)
Teen queen Lizzie McGuire grows up a bit and hits the big screen in this comedy drama, based on the popular Disney Network series. Lizzie McGuire (Hilary Duff) and her best friends Kate (Ashlie Brillault), Gordo (Adam Lamberg), and Ethan (Clayton Snyder) have just graduated from middle school, and to celebrate, they're taking part in a class trip to Rome, Italy. Eager to celebrate their new maturity as high school students, Lizzie and her pals hope to live it up in one of Europe's most fabled cities, but fate has something more spectacular in store for Lizzie. Lizzie discovers that she bears a striking resemblance to Isabella, an Italian teen-pop idol famous for her duets with heart-throb Paolo (Yani Gellman) -- so much so that when Paolo and Isabella have a falling out, he asks Lizzie to take Isabella's place for an upcoming concert. Lizzie, however, isn't sure she feels comfortable stepping into the spotlight, and is even less sure about the way she feels about Paolo, who makes no secret of his infatuation with her. Things don't get any simpler for Lizzie when her family gets wind of her newfound fame, and catch the next flight to Italy. The Lizzie McGuire Movie also features Robert Carradine and Hallie Todd as Lizzie's parents, and Jake Thomas as her younger brother Matt, all of whom reprise their roles from the television series. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hilary Duff, Yani Gellman, (more)
Two of the Disney Channel's brightest young sitcom stars, Hilary Duff (Lizzie Maguire) and Christy Romano (Even Stevens), team up for laughs and tears in the made-for-cable Cadet Kelly. The life of cool, artistically inclined 14-year-old Kelly Collins (Duff) is turned upside down when she is uprooted from Manhattan and whisked off to the campus of George Washington Military School in upstate New York. The move was instigated by Sir (Gary Cole), a retired general and the new husband of Kelly's mother. Hoping to impress her stepfather, Kelly enlists in the school, where her freewheeling eccentricities immediately run afoul of her hard-hearted, 17-year-old squad leader, Jennifer Stone (Romano). Though Kelly does her best, the pressure brought to bear upon her by military protocol is enough to have her contemplating desertion -- and even her growing fondness for upper classman, Brad (Shawn Ashmore), may not be enough to bring her back. Originally broadcast by the Disney Channel on March 8, 2002, Cadet Kelly made its ABC network debut on July 14, 2002, as an episode of the weekend "Wonderful World of Disney" anthology. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hilary Duff, Christy Romano, (more)
Hilary Duff became an overnight star and teen idol in one fell swoop when the freewheeling sitcom Lizzie McGuire made its Disney Channel debut in January of 2001. Not dissimilar to the old Nickelodeon series Clarissa Explains It All, Lizzie McGuire dealt in a slyly satirical (and slightly surrealistic) fashion with the trials and tribulations of 13- and 14-year-old junior-high kids. Lizzie attended Hillridge Middle School with her best friends, the sardonic Miranda Sanchez (Lalaine) and the doggedly nonconformist David "Gordo" Gordon (Adam Lamberg). At home, Lizzie had a fairly good relationship with her loving and tolerant parents, Sam and Jo (Robert Carradine, Hallie Todd), even though they persisted in regarding her as their little "sweet potato" instead of a girl on the verge of womanhood. Less copacetic was the relationship between Lizzie and her bratty kid brother, Matt (Jake Thomas), who never tired of hatching schemes to annoy his sister, confound his parents, fatten his allowance, or increase his creature comforts. Other regular and semi-regular characters included Lizzie's snooty classroom rival, Kate Sanders (Ashlie Brillault), who had once been our heroine's closest pal until such matters as boyfriends, peer pressure, and the school cheerleading squad separated them; Lizzie's heartthrob Ethan Craft (Clayton Snyder), whose dazzling handsomeness was offset by his less-than-dazzling intellect; requisite school nerd Larry Tudgeman (Kyle J. Downes), who for a variety of reasons (mostly academic) drove Gordo crazy; and Matt's buddy and partner-in-crime, Lanny (Christian Copelin). Among the most memorable aspects of Lizzie McGuire were the series' fleeting but hilarious pop-cultural references (usually appearing in Lizzie's vivid imagination), its adroit usage of contemporary music to complement the action or mood of the moment, and especially the cartoon sequences, wherein Lizzie would confide in or solicit advice from her animated alter ego, "Toon Lizzie" (this was, after all, a Disney production). Clearly anticipating a major hit, Disney Channel commissioned 31 episodes for Lizzie McGuire's first season instead of the usual 22 or 24. This surplus of material came in handy when Disney's sister over-the-air network ABC began rerunning Lizzie McGuire as part of its Saturday-morning lineup. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hilary Duff, Hallie Todd, (more)
- 2001
Hilary Duff, former leading lady of the direct-to-video fantasy feature Casper Meets Wendy, starred in this weekly cable-TV sitcom as 13-year-old Lizzie McGuire. Most of the stories concerned Lizzie's efforts to fit in with the other kids in her middle school without coming off like a "total dweeb." Her innermost thoughts were conveyed by her animated alter ego, who in Strange Interlude fashion let the viewers know what was really going on in Lizzie's mind as she struggled to cope with the perils of adolescence. Robert Carradine and Hallie Todd co-starred as Lizzie's parents, while Jake Thomas played her younger brother Matt. Created by Terry Minsky, Lizzie McGuire (originally titled What's Lizzy Thinking?) debuted January 19, 2001, on the Disney Channel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hilary Duff, Hallie Todd, (more)
Video director Michel Gondry and scriptwriter Charles Kaufman -- who shot to fame after penning Being John Malkovich -- collaborate on this bizarre fable about human behavior in and out of society. The film opens by quickly introducing the three leads -- Lila (Patricia Arquette) who is locked away in prison; Puff (Rhys Ifans) who is testifying before Congress; and Nathan Bronfman (Tim Robbins) who is sitting in a glowing white afterlife waiting room with a bullet hole in his head. Rewinding to the beginning of the story, the film shows Lila as a girl about to enter womanhood. Unfortunately, puberty goes horribly awry and she starts to grow thick hair all over her body. After performing as Queen Kong in a circus freak show, she chucks it all and goes to live in the forest, where she becomes the best-selling author of a misanthropic hard-line ecological tome. At age 30, her itch for male companionship becomes overwhelming and she ventures back into the city. She is helped by electrolysis guru Louise (Rosie Perez), who not only makes Lila presentable to society, but introduces her to Nathan, a 35-year-old virgin who, as a scientist, has devoted his life to teaching table etiquette to lab mice. While showing Nathan the joys of the wild outdoors, Lila and her new beau discover an extremely hirsute feral man whom they dub Puff. Placing him a cage in his lab, Nathan sets out to teach Puff the ways of polite society while dreaming of fame and fortune. The first task is to curb Puff's enormous sexual appetite -- any time he catches sight of a female, Puff either tries to hump her or masturbates vigorously. Nathan yokes him with an electric collar that shocks him any time he acts unseemly. Unfortunately, the humans on the other side of the cage can't quite control their libidos either: Nathan succumbs to the incessant double entendres of his saucy French assistant Gabrielle (Miranda Otto) while Lila finds an animalistic lust for Nathan's science experiment. This film was screened at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tim Robbins, Patricia Arquette, (more)
- 1999
Based on Kathleen Kane's novel Pocketful of Paradise, the fanciful TV movie The Soul Collector stars Bruce Greenwood in the title role. As an emissary from Heaven, Zachariah (Greenwood) helps recently departed souls to make a smooth and happy transition from life to death. But after showing signs of boredom and carelessness in his work, Zachariah is brought before supervising soul collector Mordecai (Ossie Davis), who "sentences" him to be a mortal for 30 days. While serving out his term, Zachariah falls in love with Rebecca (Melissa Gilbert), the widow of a man he'd "collected" earlier. As Zachariah struggles to help Rebecca save her farm from her creditors, Mordecai wonders if he's done the right thing in forcing Zachariah to experience humanity firsthand. Filmed just outside Austin, TX, The Soul Collector posted excellent ratings for CBS when the film first aired on October 24, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Greenwood, Ossie Davis, (more)
Casper the Friendly Ghost and Wendy the Good Witch team up to fight an evil warlock. Shelly Duvall and Teri Garr star. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hilary Duff
Based on a true story, this Civil War-era epic centers on the exploits of Sarah Ashby McClure (Dana Delany) and her sister Euphemia (Annabeth Gish) as they try to make their way on the male-dominated West Texas plains. When their home is threatened by Mexican forces and Native American warriors, the sisters lead their family and friends to safety. Based on the book by Janice Woods Windle, True Women also co-stars Rachael Leigh Cook, Angelina Jolie, and Tina Majorino. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dana Delany, Annabeth Gish, (more)
