Stuck in the Suburbs | |
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Film poster
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Written by |
Amy Engelberg Wendy Engelberg Daniel Berendsen |
Directed by | Savage Steve Holland |
Starring |
Danielle Panabaker Brenda Song Taran Killam |
Theme music composer | Jeff Vincent |
Original language(s) | English |
Production | |
Producer(s) | Richard D. Arredondo Richard Fischoff |
Running time | 82 minutes |
Distributor | Disney-ABC Domestic Television |
Budget | $1 million |
Release | |
Original network | Disney Channel |
Original release | July 16, 2004 |
Stuck in the Suburbs – Original Soundtrack | |
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Soundtrack album by Various Artists | |
Released | July 13, 2004 |
Recorded | 2004 |
Genre | Pop, pop rock, dance-pop, teen pop |
Length | 51:17 |
Label | Walt Disney |
Producer | Andrew Gold, Dallas Austin, Matthew Gerrard, Matt Serletic, Ralph Churchwell, Sherry Kondor, Mike Nielson, Andy Dodd, Adam Watts, Ginger McCartney, David Margolis |
Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic |
Stuck in the Suburbs is a Disney Channel Original Movie. It was released on July 16, 2004, and stars Danielle Panabaker as Brittany Aarons and Brenda Song as Natasha Kwon-Schwartz. Brittany, a regular middle school student in the suburbs, accidentally exchanges cell phones with pop singer Jordan Cahill. This was one of the first made-for-television movies by Disney which was also accompanied by its own soundtrack. The film gathered 3.7 million viewers which made the film the most-watched telecast in its time period in the kids 6–11 and 9–14 demographics. The film's soundtrack entered the U.S. Billboard 200 and peaked at #5 on the Billboard Top Kid Audio charts.
Brittany Aarons (Danielle Panabaker) is a regular teenage girl, one of the many who has a crush on popular pop singer Jordan Cahill (Taran Killam). However, she is bored of living a suburban existence and pines for excitement. At school, she meets a new girl, Natasha Kwon-Schwartz (Brenda Song), who informs Brittany that she moved to suburbia from several years on and off living in Europe and New York. Brittany's other friends dislike Natasha for her nonconformism, but Brittany pursues a friendship with her. Upon finding out that Jordan is filming a video nearby, Brittany invites Natasha to join her and her fangirl friends to watch the shoot. Jordan, at the video shoot, expresses dislike for the shallow new single, wanting to sing his own lyrics, which his record company denies him. When Jordan and his team knock into Brittany and Natasha after the shoot, Eddie (Jordan's assistant, best friend and confidante) and Brittany accidentally pick up one another's phones in the ensuing mess.
Brittany tries to return "Eddie's" phone but is denied entry at Jordan's hotel. Once they get a hold of Eddie and figure out the phone is Jordan's, they demand to speak with the pop star before they would return it, which Eddie refuses. Natasha convinces Brittany that it would be fun to mess with Jordan, and change his image. They prank call his hair stylist, get her to cut off all his hair, and get a new wardrobe for him. Along the way they find that Jordan's life is not the life he chooses, but rather the one his record company wants for him. At first he is terrified that his personal barber gave him a major haircut, but eventually accepts it as the first step towards a break from his manufactured image, enjoying his new wardrobe and look, which he thinks Eddie procured. Eventually, the girls demand Eddie have Jordan perform at a rally hosted by Brittany's mother to save a local landmark, which was previously failing to draw attention.