From Justin to Kelly

From Justin to Kelly is a 2003 American musical romantic comedy film written by Kim Fuller and directed by Robert Iscove. The film, starring American Idol first season winner Kelly Clarkson and runner-up Justin Guarini, won the Golden Raspberry Award for "Worst 'Musical' of Our First 25 Years" in 2005. This film is often regarded as one of the worst movies ever made.

From Justin to Kelly
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRobert Iscove
Produced byRobert Engelman
Written byKim Fuller
Starring
Music by
CinematographyFrancis Kenny
Edited by
  • Tirsa Hackshaw
  • Casey O. Rohrs
Production
company
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • June 20, 2003 (2003-06-20)
Running time
81 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$12 million[1]
Box office$4.9 million[1]

Plot

The film is set during spring break in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Texan singing waitress Kelly Taylor meets Pennsylvanian college student Justin Bell. They then fall for each other, and various romantic complications ensue. Kelly's friend Kaya falls in love with charming busboy Carlos; Kelly's other friend Alexa schemes to keep Justin and Kelly from meeting; Justin's friend Brandon is always getting on the wrong side of a sexy beach patrolwoman; and Justin's other friend Eddie tries to hook up with a cyber-pal.

Cast

Release

Some theater chains threatened not to screen the film at all when distributor 20th Century Fox announced plans to rush it to VHS and DVD a mere six weeks after its opening weekend, but Fox ultimately relented and pushed the release date back a number of months. After underperforming its first weekend, Fox reinstated the original release schedule and the film was released via home media on August 26, 2003.

Box office

In its opening weekend, From Justin to Kelly grossed $2,715,848 in 2,001 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #11 at the box office.[2] By the end of its run on July 24, 2003, the film had grossed $4,928,883 in the domestic box office. Based on a $12 million budget, the film was a box office bomb.[1]

Critical reception

The film has a 10% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 63 reviews; the average rating is 2.7/10. The consensus states: "A notorious stinker, From Justin to Kelly features banal songs, a witless plot, and non-existent chemistry between its American Idol-sanctioned leads."[3] The film has a score of 14 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 16 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike".[4] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale.[5]

Entertainment Weekly film critic Owen Gleiberman wrote in his review, "How bad is From Justin to Kelly? Set in Miami during spring break, it's like Grease: The Next Generation acted out by the food-court staff at SeaWorld."[6] Time Magazine described the film as "a monstrous Idol movie musical that in the most generous light is the worst film so far this century".[7]

Reception from Clarkson

Clarkson has since stated that before the film went into production, she pleaded with the creator of American Idol to be relieved from the contractual obligation to star in a film, and that she has always disliked From Justin to Kelly.[8] In an interview, she admitted she joined the film only because she was contractually obligated to do so: "I knew when I read the script it was going to be real, real bad, but when I won, I signed that piece of paper, and I could not get out of it."[7]

Accolades

The film is listed in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book The Official Razzie Movie Guide as one of The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made.[9]

The choreography was considered so bad that a special Golden Raspberry "Governor's Award" was created as an excuse to present the film with a Razzie. However, the film was better received by the Teen Choice Awards, as it was nominated for two Choice Movie Breakout Stars (for Guarini and Clarkson) and Choice Chemistry.

Total Film magazine ranked the film at number 16 in their list of 66 Worst Movies Of All Time.[10]

Award Year Category Result
Teen Choice Awards 2003 Choice Movie Breakout Star (Female), Kelly Clarkson Nominated
Choice Movie Breakout Star (Male), Justin Guarini
Choice Movie Chemistry, Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini
Stinkers Bad Movie Awards[11] 2004 Worst Picture Nominated
Worst Director, Robert Iscove
Worst Actor, Justin Guarini
Worst Actress, Kelly Clarkson
Worst Fake Accent - Female, Kelly Clarkson
Worst On-Screen Couple (Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini)
Worst On-Screen Group; The Pennsylvania Posse
Worst Song, "Anytime" Won
Razzie Awards Worst Picture Nominated
Worst Director, Robert Iscove
Worst Screenplay, Kim Fuller
Worst Actor, Justin Guarini
Worst Actress, Kelly Clarkson
Worst Remake or Sequel (remake of both Where the Boys Are and Where the Boys Are '84)
Worst Screen Couple (Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini)
Worst Excuse for an Actual Movie (All Concept/No Content)
Governor's Award - Distinguished Under-Achievement in Choreography
2005 Worst Musical of Our First 25 Years

Home media

The DVD release includes an extended version of 90 minutes which has two new musical numbers, "From Me to You" and "Brighter Star", additional lyrics, more sensual choreography to "Wish Upon a Star", and a scene involving a "Dare to Be Bare" contest.[12]

Soundtrack

A commercial soundtrack with studio tracks was produced but remains unreleased due to the film's negative reception and unsatisfactory box office returns. However, a version of the song "Timeless", sung by Clarkson and Guarini, and recorded prior to the film, was included on Guarini's self-titled debut album. The tracks of the unreleased studio soundtrack can be found on various Clarkson fan sites. Two songs, "From Me to You" and "Brighter Star", did not appear in the theatrical release, but were added to the extended version DVD release. Clarkson also performed "The Bounce (The Luv)", and "Timeless" during her shared (with Clay Aiken) "Independent Tour" in 2003 with her male backup singer performing the male vocals on "Timeless".

Songs used in the film and soundtrack (in order of appearance):

  1. "I Won't Stand in Line" (Original artist: Reba McEntire)
  2. "Vacation" (Original artist: The Go-Go's)
  3. "The Bounce (The Luv)"
  4. "Brandon's Rap"
  5. "Forever Part of Me"
  6. "It's Meant to Be"
  7. "Timeless" (Also released on Guarini's debut CD Justin Guarini)
  8. "Brighter Star" (Extended version)
  9. "Wish Upon a Star"
  10. "Anytime" (Alternate version on Clarkson's debut CD Thankful)
  11. "Madness"
  12. "Timeless (Reprise)"
  13. "From Me to You" (Extended version)
  14. "Anytime (Reprise)"
  15. "That's the Way (I Like It)" (Lyrically changed cover of original song by KC and the Sunshine Band)
  16. "Sugar"

See also

References
  1. "From Justin to Kelly (2003)". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. July 25, 2003. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  2. "Weekend Box Office Results for June 20-22, 2003". Box Office Mojo. Internet Movie Database. June 23, 2003. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  3. "From Justin to Kelly". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
  4. "From Justin to Kelly". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
  5. "CinemaScore". CinemaScore. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  6. Gleiberman, Owen (May 23, 2003). "Movie Review From Justin to Kelly (2003)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 21, 2009.
  7. "Miss Independent" Josh Tyrangiel. Time Magazine February 05, 2006 (Subscription Required).
  8. https://www.refinery29.com/2017/09/173883/kelly-clarkson-from-justin-to-kelly-american-idol
  9. Wilson, John (2005). The Official Razzie Movie Guide: Enjoying the Best of Hollywood's Worst. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 0-446-69334-0.
  10. 66 Worst Movies of All Time, Total Film. February 15th 2012. Retrieved January 17th 2014.
  11. "2003 26th Hastings Bad Cinema Society Stinkers Awards". Stinkers Bad Movie Awards. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 3, 2007. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  12. Beierle, Aaron (August 14, 2003). "From Justin To Kelly (Special Edition)". DVD Talk. Retrieved June 28, 2015.
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