Imagine a wonderful and romantic evening at a restaurant in downtown Washington, D.C. with your significant other...and about 50 secret service agents watching your every move.
When you're the president's daughter, this is your life.
In her latest movie, "Chasing Liberty," Mandy Moore plays Anna Foster, the frustrated first daughter who struggles to gain independence. The film also stars Mark Harmon, Caroline Goodall, Anabella Sciorra, Jeremy Piven and newcomer Matthew Goode.
Anna Foster, like every normal teenager, wants to be free and independent. But because she is the President James Foster's (Harmon) only daughter, he refuses to let her take a step without the secret service following her. While on a diplomatic trek across Europe with her father and mother (Goodall), Anna decides to do something about it.
At a nightclub in Prague, Anna is able to disguise herself and get away from the secret service agents with the help of a mystery man on a motorcycle. This mystery man, whose name is Ben Calder, takes her around the city for what turns out to be a very interesting night, that ends with the two of them falling asleep together on the rooftop of a building.
Later the audience learns that Ben is really Agent Calder, a member of the secret service. Anna does not know this. The next morning, Anna calls her parents to let them know she is okay, which ends in an argument with her father saying that secret service agents must be with her at all times (some incriminating photos of Anna from the previous night influenced that decision).
Throughout the movie, Anna has repeatedly said that she wants to go to Germany to attend the Love Fest. After arguing with her father on the phone, Anna decides that she will get on a train and go to Germany by herself. Ben, under strict orders by President Foster to stay with his daughter, climbs onto the train with her. After learning that Anna was going to Germany, her father sends two agents, Weiss and Morales (Piven and Sciorra), to follow and bring her back.
Unfortunately, Anna and Ben get on the wrong train, and instead of ending up in Berlin, they travel to Venice. The rest of the film follows the pair as they travel through Italy, Switzerland, and eventually Germany. Over the course of their adventure, Ben and Anna fall in love with each other, which presents a conflict for Ben. Should he tell Anna who he really is? And if he does tell her, how will she respond? At the end of the film it seems as though all may be lost, but audiences will be in for a happy surprise.
"Chasing Liberty" marks Moore's fourth time on the big screen. Unlike many others who have tried to cross over from music to movies (i.e. Britney Spears and Mariah Carey), Mandy Moore is a decent actress.
Audiences who are used to Moore playing the sweet and innocent token "good girl" might be surprised by this movie. In the movie, Anna curses, is constantly getting angry, gets completely naked twice (remember, PG-13), and gets drunk in a bar. We get to see a whole new side to Moore and her ability to act. Her character in this movie is far more aggressive and sexually driven than any other character she has portrayed before. There still are large parts of the movie where you see the sappy, incessantly happy girl that audiences have grown accustomed to, but this film marks her biggest departure yet from the Mandy Moore stereotypical role.
This movie falls into the category of romantic comedy. Like all movies of this genre, the script / plot is extremely sappy and will cause all of its female viewers to say "aww
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