Caliente

Duff will win, but not knock, you over

As Hilary Duff sings,

You can say you're bored

You can act real tough.

But no matter how bored or tough you'll pretend to be, the Duffster's musical romance/ coming of ager, "Raise Your Voice," eerily wins you over. Your head bobs to its tunes and the characters sink into the back of your skull. Against reasonable expectations, director Sean McNamara's cheeseball opus will likely overpower many a disgruntled dad or weary dude-on-a-first-date. As indomitable but stage fright-infected ingenue Terri Fletcher (Duff) proves herself in a hard-scrabble Los Angeles summer music academy, attempting to win friends and overcome a family tragedy, a cinematic spell sweeps the theater. It's like a Disney Channel movie you catch while flipping stations that you don't realize you've been watching until you're 15 minutes in. Even as the soft-hearted crowd claps and cries, he'll put up an indifferent front. But afterward, the guy will have to stare into the mirror with a harrowing admission. I watched "Raise Your Voice." And at the end, when Terri stared into the crowd and wasn't sure if she'd be able to overcome her fear and sing, gulp, I cared. Then it's off to therapy. After all, the film's production company, for gosh sakes, is called ChickFlicks. ChickFlicks! Once in perspective, it really shouldn't be all that alarming to fall in like with "Raise Your Voice," because Duff is a rapidly appreciating screen presence who has moved well beyond the cookie-cutter sit-com delivery she employed in "The Lizzie McGuire Movie." And the girl can sing. It helps that Duff is surrounded by a capable cast, including Rebecca De Mornay as an aunt who acts as a rebellious influence, and John Corbett, who comes alive as a bohemian voice teacher who helps Terri unlock her potential. Though McNamara has little feature film experience, he's a veteran TV helmer ("That's so Raven," "Phil of the Future") who's well-practiced in cranking out precision-timed laughs and drama that can appeal to kids and adults alike. Granted, the movie has its problems, first and foremost with its overpredictability. You know Terri will find some way to get to the music academy under the overprotective nose of her father, Simon (David Keith), and that she'll fall in love with the first boy she meets, get into a lame fight with him and then reunite before the credits roll. The script also could have treated Terri's hometown of Flagstaff a little gentler. Our favorite snowy NorAz burg is treated as a hole in the ground that saps the life out of anyone so silly as to stay there and not jet away to Phoenix or L.A. And then there's the corny vein of detachment that runs throughout, with choppy dialogue and awkward attempts to synthesize today's youth interaction. Terri proves that she's "down" by speaking ebonics to her streetwise, in-yo-face black roommate, Denise (Dana Davis) and even shares a congratulatory fist-pound with her. Could be offensive if it wasn't so dumb. No one who buys a ticket to this movie though, will expect perfection. The title is "Raise Your Voice," and voices are most certainly raised, but it also lifts up your heart.