Chasing Liberty [WS]

Overview

Television director Andy Cadiff turns toward feature films to direct the romantic comedy Chasing Liberty, which appears to be loosely based on the 1953 Audrey Hepburn classic Roman Holiday. Mandy Moore stars as Anna Foster, the 18-year-old daughter of President of the United States James Foster (Mark Harmon). Anna has led quite a privileged life, but she has grown to resist the constant presence of Secret Service agents getting in the way of her independence. While on a family trip to Europe, Anna manages to get away from security for a brief time. She inevitably falls into the romantic arms of British boy Ben Calder (Matthew Goode), with whom she enjoys a fresh and clean European vacation. Not wanting to ruin her fun, she doesn't tell him about her upper-class social status. But, alas, Ben surprises her with a secret identity of his own. Jeremy Piven and Annabella Sciorra play two Secret Service agents. Caroline Goodall plays the wise, conventional First Lady.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/15/2007
UPC:	0085391163084
Original Release:	2004
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	Warner Home Video
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:41:00

Special Features

Additional scenes; Gag reel; Entire concert performance of the Seed by the Roots; Commentary by Mandy Moore and Matthew Goode; Passport to Europe: European grand tour with the stars, recalling their fun during the shoot and offering travel tips; Theatrical trailer; Languages: English & Français (dubbed in Quebec); Subtitles: English, Français & Español (feature film only)

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Mandy Moore	Anna Foster
Matthew Goode	Ben Calder
Jeremy Piven	Alan Weiss
Annabella Sciorra	Cynthia Morales
Mark Harmon	President James Foster
Beatrice Rosen	Gabrielle
Stark Sands	Grant Hillman
Sam Ellis	Phil
Tony Jayawardena	White House Guard
Briony Glassco	Photo Mother
Terence Maynard	Harper
Lewis Hancock	Press Secretary,McGruff
Garrick Hagon	Secretary of State
Jan Goodman	National Security Advisor
Robert Ashe	Chief of Staff
Caroline Goodall	Michelle Foster
Brian Caspe	Agent in Club
Marek Vasut	Drunk Man in Bar
Petr Meissel	Man at Train Station
Maurizio Dal Corso	Italian Waiter
Joseph Long	Eugenio
Miriam Margolyes	Maria
Jan Vosmik	Farmer's Son 1
Jan Filipensky	Farmer's Son 2
Jan Kuzelka	Farmer
Adrian Bouchet	Gus Gus
Petr Vanek	Gen X-er No. 1
David Maj	Gen X-er No. 2
Jeremy Healy	Himself
Dusan Fager	Partier No. 1
Zdenek Hamouz	Weiss's New Partner
Beatrice Rosenblatt	Gabrielle
Grant Hillman	Stark Sands
Lily Tello	Photo Daughter 1
Tyla Barnfield	Photo Daughter 2
Lewis Hagon	Secretary Of State
Zac Benoir	Chairman Of The Joint Chief Of Staff
Lucie Liskova	Drunk Girl in Club
Frantisek Cerny	Marquis De Sade Band
Milan Cimfe	Marquis De Sade Band
Pavel Karlik	Marquis De Sade Band
Joel Sugerman	Onlooker At The River
Nial Iskhakov	Austrian Child
Dennison Betram	Partier #2
Benjamin Wallfisch	Conductor,Composer
Christian Henson	Composer

Technical Credits

Derek Guiley

David Schneiderman

Lilian Burch

Andy Cadiff	Director
Derek Guiley	Screenwriter
David Schneiderman	Screenwriter
Wayne Rice	Executive Producer
Broderick Johnson	Producer
Andrew A. Kosove	Producer,Producer
David Parfitt	Producer
Lisa Beach	Casting
Simon Frame	Special Effects
Priscilla John	Casting
Sarah Katzman	Casting
Shelly Ziegler	Director
Lilian Burch	Screenwriter
Micro Fusion	Producer
Nancy Bishop	Casting
Werner Bacciu	Key Grip
Lee Carrick	Key Grip
Jim Gilchrist	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

The first of two president's daughter movies released in 2004, Chasing Liberty is also the more entertaining, since it doubles as a European travelogue. Both this and First Daughter address a girl's desire to escape the claustrophobic smothering of the secret service, but Liberty has the advantage of not dumbing down the material into a wish-fulfillment princess fantasy, despite the presence of teen-friendly Mandy Moore. Of course, it couldn't be designed for anyone but teens, but it treats teens as real people grappling with such mature issues as whether and how to lose their virginity. In fact, Moore's whole agenda in going on the lam is to get to the Love Parade in Berlin. A festival with that kind of name, featuring rave music, hints at a certain amount of sexual and drug-related behavior, and the producers deserve credit for not shying away from those associations. Moore wins equal points for continuing to mature as an actress, especially since she came on the scene as a pop singer. Her character is pretty grounded and believable for someone who wants a wild European adventure, and her scenes with Matthew Goode have chemistry and complexity. Characters who don't fare so well are the comic relief team of Jeremy Piven and Annabella Sciorra, the "cool" (i.e. non-thuggish) agents who trail Anna through Europe. Piven's innuendos and Sciorra's eyeball-rolling reactions to them -- which naturally dovetail into a romantic subplot -- could have been trimmed. Overall, though, Chasing Liberty earns credibility for refusing to sugarcoat the story it chooses to tell.