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The Movie: A film that seems like it'd be more at home as a direct-to-cable release than a theatrical film, "Material Girls" is a severe misstep for Hilary Duff, which comes after the dire "Perfect Man", a film that will be forever remembered as opening with the classically ridiculous line from Duff, "Hey all you bloggers out there!" "Material Girls" sees Hilary and sister Haylie playing Taznie (which is the kind of character name that makes one wonder if something fell on the screenwriter's keyboard and they just decided to keep whatever was on-screen) and Ava, two spoiled rich girls who are the heirs to the Marchetta Cosmetics fortune. They appear at all the hottest parties and are fashion icons...until a report comes out stating that their late father's cosmetics cause severe skin problems. Suddenly, the girls are facing protests and, just when it couldn't get any worse, they accidentally start a fire in their mansion. What do they do? Instead of waiting for the fire department, they run to their car...and drive away. They first verbally berate a hotel staffer who informs them their company credit card has been declined, then move in with their maid, who they boss around, despite the fact that she's nice enough to actually let them live with her. The maid suggests that the two get jobs, an idea which they entertain for about two seconds before they decide they'll become like, detectives and try to figure out what happened to their father's company. So sets into motion a sloppily written section about the girls enlisting the help of a lawyer pal (Lukas Haas) and trying to find out the intentions of their competitor (Anjelica Huston. Yes, that Anjelica Huston.) The film suffers from a number of issues, although the screenplay is certainly a main issue. The two main characters are unlikable and, despite the fact that the film appears to be about learning that there's more to life than wealth, by the end of the movie, that message hasn't been delivered very well. Neither of the Duffs fare well, either, with both sisters blandly wandering through the forumlaic plot. Huston and Haas provide some moments, but this is another step down for Duff. The DVD VIDEO: "Material Girls" is presented by Fox in 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen and 1.33:1 full-frame, with each version taking up one side of the disc. While the film isn't much to look at, the presentation at least does a fine job with the material, as the film looked crisp and clean throughout, with only a couple of minor instances of artifacting and edge enhancement getting in the way. Colors remained bright and nicely saturated, with no smearing or other concerns. SOUND: The film's Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation remained a basic "comedy" mix, putting the surrounds to use only on a couple of occasions to give a boost to the film's music. EXTRAS: An audio commentary from director Martha Coolidge, a brief "making of" and a music video. Final Thoughts: It's tough to watch the Duffs in "Material Girls", a shallow comedy/drama whose only bright spots are minor efforts from Haas and Huston. The DVD presentation offers fine audio/video quality and a few minor extras. Hardcore Duff fans will likely want to try a rental, but otherwise, I'd say skip it. Film Grade The Film D+ DVD Grades Video 85/B Audio: 86/B Extras: 80/B- |