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75As it turns out, "Liberty," a likable, light-as-air road comedy, is a much better movie than its sour-pun title.
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75What's immediately apparent -- and refreshing -- about Chasing Liberty is that it doesn't play cute with its premise.
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70Inoffensive adolescent escapism laced with surprising amounts of genuine charm.
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70Will probably win over as many fuddy-duddy fathers as fillies with its mixture of sweetness tempered with genial cynicism.
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63Boasts exceedingly high levels of improbability and an embarrassment of continuity and character shortfalls, but still has a certain bubbleheaded charm.
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63Chasing Liberty is not daring or adventurous, but, considering its release date (early January), it's more palatable than one might anticipate.
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63Lighthearted fluff, not piercing drama. Still, a little shot of reality -- or at least an acknowledgement of same -- could have done this film wonders.
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60Chases romance and comedy across Europe for nearly two hours without ever quite catching either. Essentially a teenage rendition of William Wyler's immortal "Roman Holiday."
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60The film means to be an unpretentious, engaging romantic comedy but stretches its charm awfully thin with a 110-minute running time.
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58At least some Goode may come from Chasing Liberty: I hope we'll be seeing more of the handsome and unboyish young man with big star potential who looks ready to take on more, not Moore.
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58The movie's a little thin for the two-hour running time, but likable enough for its schoolgirl audience and painless enough for the adults doomed to be dragged along.
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50Surprisingly good in areas where it doesn't need to be good at all, and pretty awful in areas where it has to succeed.
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50May find some fans among female teens. But even they may decide the project cares more about quick profits than real entertainment value, since the signs are hard to miss.
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50Light, doggedly formulaic romantic comedy that's almost instantly forgettable despite the sunny presence of teen queen Mandy Moore.
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50It's an innocuous, occasionally cute movie made watchable by the appealing Mandy Moore and hunky Matthew Goode, a Brit who has a bit of Hugh Grant charm in an otherwise silly role.
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50It's one TV-movie romp that Kristy McNichol never got around to starring in.
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50It can be accurately described as a loud soundtrack occasionally punctuated by the faint vestige of a plot. Or as a lush travelogue that sometimes gives way to sporadic bursts of chirping dialogue.
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50The bizarrely entertaining relationship that blossoms between Sciorra and Piven is far more amusing and convincing, which only underscores the lack of chemistry between the dewy leads.
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50The kind of bland, perky comedy that neuters whoever is spun into its cotton-candy web.
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50The movie's saving grace is newcomer Goode, who has what they used to call smoldering good looks, and who can, not so incidentally, actually act.
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50On record and in her movies, Moore is sold as wholesome and real, which sometimes translates as generic and blah, in spite of her genuine appeal and accessibility.
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50Moore's lip-glossed petulance never catches fire with Goode's canned drollery.
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50Moore's likable and Goode's good. But . . . so what?
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50Jeremy Piven and Annabella Sciorra exert some charm as bodyguards tracking the couple; Mark Harmon and Caroline Goodall are OK as the heroine's parents. Andy Cadiff directed Derek Guiley and David Schneiderman's by-the-numbers script.
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40Their travelogue-ready romance is utterly doofy but not disagreeable, and this sort of wish-fulfillment fantasy will strike the right chord with Moore’s fan base of preteen girls.
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40The lack of narrative sophistication allows an Ecstasy-like disposition to set in; "Liberty" becomes goo-goo eyed over itself. It lacks the discipline to define Anna sufficiently; rather, it portrays her as either a lovable naïf or a spoiled narcissist in desperate need of a lesson.
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40A not-bad idea lurks inside this insipid story.
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38The whole film, in fact, feels slapped together and unfocused. Though the movie’s too dopey for anyone older than ten, there are scenes where characters drink and go skinny-dipping.
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30An endless, virtually laugh-free pastiche of Aaron Sorkin by way of Aaron Spelling, Chasing Liberty features Mandy Moore trying so strenuously to be the next America's Sweetheart that she almost pops a vein.
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25Lacks the active verb it promises. It defines blah.
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Neil8Its a wholesome movie, It doesn't try too hard, and it ain't that boring either.