It’s the end of 8th grade. Lizzie McGuire is getting ready for her middle school graduation.

While at the ceremony, Lizzie has to deliver a speech since the class president, Margaret Chan, is out sick. But the speech ends in a disaster. Poor Lizzie is now embarrassed.

A little time has passed. Lizzie is now joining her graduating class on a trip to Rome.

They arrive at the hotel and receive their roommate assignments. Lizzie is assigned to share a room with Kate, a mean girl.

The next day, Lizzie meets this Italian celebrity, Paolo Valisari, who thinks she looks like his singing partner, Isabella. He falls in love with her and wants to spend time with her. Lizzie resists at first. But she figures out a way to sneak out – by pretending to be sick in bed and leaving after everyone else leaves. Her friend, Gordo, covers for her.

The next day, Paolo tells Lizzie that he and  Isabella are booked for the International Music Video Awards. But Isabella broke up with him a while ago. Paolo wants Lizzie to pretend to be Isabella so that he won’t get in trouble for canceling. Lizzie eventually agrees.

Lizzie continues to fake being sick and sneak out with Paolo. She does all kinds of crazy things while pretending to be Isabella, such as receiving wild makeovers.

Eventually, Kate finds out. But she promises to keep Lizzie’s sneak-outs a secret. However, the principal, Ms. Ungermeyer, starts becoming suspicious.

Despite not watching a lot of the TV show, Lizzie McGuire, this movie drew me in a lot. There is so much I admire about it.

As usual, the characters are likable, well-developed, and have great relationships with each other. I loved Lizzie’s friendship with Gordo. She also has a female best friend, Miranda. But Miranda wasn’t in this movie.

Hilary Duff nailed portraying a young teen girl credibly with moodiness, getting embarrassed, and being self-conscious. She actually wasn’t that much older than her character. She was 15 when this movie was filmed.

The plot was especially engaging. It is fun to see characters, particularly the protagonist, make the wrong decisions and hope that they don’t get caught. This is a great form of tension in storytelling.

Fun fact: I once read a book about a character, who did something dishonest and didn’t get caught for a while.

Anyway, I really enjoyed The Lizzie McGuire Movie. It also has an amazing soundtrack, including an original song. It gave me some early 2000s nostalgia.

I rate the film 5 out of 5 stars, and would recommend to people of all ages, especially those who grew up in the 90s and 2000s.