Metascore
56 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 28 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 28
  2. Negative: 2 out of 28
  1. It works. "Lizzie" is wholesome, smart and sweet.
  2. Reviewed by: Scott Brown
    83
    Let's face it: Lizzie McGuire (Hilary Duff) is just too darn polished to be a junior-high underdog, even by the standards of her 'luxe suburban environs.
  3. Doesn't try to be more than what it is: a romantic fantasy caper.
  4. The action is light and lively all the way, poking inventive fun at everything from nosy little brothers to clueless hotel managers and romantic Romans who aren't as glamorous as they claim to be.
  5. Reviewed by: Laine Ewen
    75
    Duff is a charming heroine who carries the movie cheerfully, if not gracefully--the pratfalls come early and often.
  6. 70
    The picture unfolds as a light romantic comedy that adults will probably find familiar but tolerable, while their age-appropriate offspring will be transported to new heights of cinematic enchantment.
  7. Reviewed by: Allison Benedikt
    63
    By filling in what the story lacks in originality with easy attractions like pretty faces, set to fluffy music, the filmmakers lose the outsider edge the Lizzie McGuire franchise was built on.
  8. Reviewed by: Christine Dolen
    63
    The success of The Lizzie McGuire Movie, in which Duff acts and sings while playing both her beloved character and an Italian look-alike, is probably a slam dunk. That doesn't mean it's a great movie.
  9. Not a single moment of creativity or intrigue is to be found in the big-screen debut of the Disney Channel's most popular sitcom character.
  10. Reviewed by: Karen Heller
    63
    Lizzie McGuire is an old-fashioned, harmless dolce, made all the more charming by Duff's winning appeal.
  11. Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    63
    So who am I to carp that the film trades in the amiable realism of the show for just another watered-down pop star fantasy? Heck, it beats the Olsen twins. But not by much.
  12. Reviewed by: Kevin Carr
    60
    Classic adolescent coming-of-age tale.
  13. 60
    Disney's big-screen expansion of their hit TV show is nirvana for the pubescent crowd.
  14. The movie lacks the adult humor of such kid flicks as "Shrek" and "Lilo & Stitch," but the target audience at an advance screening was shrieking with joy throughout.
  15. Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
    60
    Just two weeks after successfully targeting boys with "Holes," Disney is giving girls something they want with this mild, quasi-romantic romp.
  16. 60
    Director Jim Fall smoothly paces the action while staying true to the girlie thrills (luxury hotels, scenic jaunts, a fashion makeover), delivering an empty-headed but enjoyable romp.
  17. So fluffy and sitcom shallow that it makes "Gidget Goes to Rome" and its other many predecessors in the young-American-girl-goes-to-Italy-and-falls-in-love genre look like high art.
  18. 50
    Hilary Duff is beautiful and skilled, and I hope she finds something worthwhile to do with her talent before she truly does become the next Britney Spears and has to start worrying about the next Hilary Duff.
  19. 50
    Lizzie McGuire's "Movie" doesn't try to be anything more than a superficial escapist fantasy for fans of the show.
  20. Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    50
    The movie is sure to appeal to fans of the show. But when quality family films, such as "Holes" and "Bend It Like Beckham," are also in theaters, why waste your time on this drivel? The answer, of course, is the kids will insist on it.
  21. How much adorable can one person take?
  22. Reviewed by: Angel Cohn
    50
    Fans may be disappointed that some of the show's secondary characters, like Lizzie's pal Miranda, are AWOL from this Prince and the Pauper-style escapade, and some of the scenes involving Gellman are disappointingly flat.
  23. 50
    The film is corny, predictable, and manipulative to the point that you feel like there’s electrodes attached from the screen to your brain, but, by the end of this film, I’ll be damned if I didn’t feel genuine affection for it and Lizzie in particular.
  24. The movie, with all its brashness and crassness, can still claim noble motives in encouraging insecure young people to seek the pop diva buried deep within.
  25. 40
    The cast of the Disney Channel's Lizzie McGuire romped strenuously through a plot that would be old hat as a two-parter on a sitcom.
  26. 40
    As it goes with the TV show, so it goes with the movie, which benefits from being shot largely in Rome and suffers from trying to stretch its sitcom antics to feature length.
  27. There's not a scrap of imagination in the script.
  28. Reviewed by: Jane Horwitz
    30
    If your kids are too young to sit unsupervised, get together with other parents and pay an older sibling or sitter to go.
User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 58 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 43
  2. Negative: 12 out of 43
  1. 9
    This score even shocks me. You would think this is got to be pure trash when actually it is pure gold. For what it is everything connects. Duff puts on a great performance and the characters don't come across as phony as i was expecting. A true surprise in a good way. Full Review »
  2. 7
    I should say that this movie is a total piece of dung, but it actually isn't that bad. Lizzie is very likable and that comes from the actress who plays her. I liked it then and I like it still. Full Review »
  3. Katherine
    0
    This movie was torture to watch. The script was awful. Hilary Duff's voice made me want to claw my ear drums out. As for her acting, I wanted to ask the person next to me to blind my with a fork while I was watching the movie. Over all, I give this movie a big 0. Full Review »