| Read It And Weep! | |
|---|---|
 DVD Cover | |
| Directed by | Paul Hoen |
| Produced by | Don Schain |
| Written by | Patrick J. Clifton Beth Rigazio Julia DeVillers |
| Starring | Kay Panabaker Danielle Panabaker Allison Scagliotti Jason Dolley |
| Cinematography | Gordon Lonsdale |
| Editing by | Louis F. Cioffi |
| Distributed by | Disney Channel |
| Release date(s) | July 21 2006 |
| Running time | 1hr. and 24 minutes |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
Read It And Weep (previously titled How My Private, Personal Journal Became A Bestseller) is a Disney Channel Original Movie which premiered on July 21, 2006.
The film is based on the novel by Julia DeVillers. Sisters Kay and Danielle Panabaker star as Jamie Bartlett and her alter ego Isabella (Iz or Is), respectively. Both sisters have starred in previous Disney Channel movies: Kay in Life Is Ruff, and Danielle in Stuck in the Suburbs.
Plot[]
Read It And Weep begins with Jamie Bartlett (Kay Panabaker), who has three best friends named Connor (Jason Dolley), Lindsay and Harmony, and an enemy named Sawyer Sullivan, whose boyfriend is the object of Jamie's affection. She also owns a tablet PC which she writes in every day. In that journal she writes about a character named "Isabelle", or "Is", a popular girl with incredible powers. She bases the character loosely upon her, and uses her alter-world to write her feelings about her fellow classmates, friends, and her life.
After she accidentally turns the journal in for an English assignment, it wins a writing contest. Jamie's book then starts to attract a lot of publicity and eventually becomes a bestseller. She appears at many book signings, reality TV shows and is often interviewed. Jamie becomes increasingly materialistic and critical of the world around her, quitting her job at her father's pizza place, ridiculing her brother's guitar playing and favouring her new fame and success over her friends. She gains success and popularity, until she reveals on a television interview that the antagonist of her novel is based on Sawyer, the now-ex-girlfriend of her crush, Marco Vega.
As the rest of her high school discovers that the book was based on Jamie's more negative feelings towards the school, she wishes to restore her relationships but her friends are unwilling to trust her again. Her friends begin to reject and avoid her, and that is shown when she logs onto a chat room, and one-by-one each person who was originally logged on, logged off as soon as they saw her, except for her friend Connor. When she asks him if he hates her, he responds "I only hate what you've become", and promptly logs off. Jamie then realizes her mistakes, and also discovers some hidden feelings for Connor.
To make up for her mistakes, she apologizes to her brother, Lenny, encouraging him to take up his guitar playing once more, despite what she'd said. Jamie discovers that her parents' pizza parlor business was dwindling, and they might have to face closing down the shop because of Jamie's unpopularity, so Jamie feels guilty.
When she gets ready for the prom, Jamie confronts Is and demands her to stop. She then proceeds to go to the prom, where she tries to apologize to everyone. They do not accept her apology at first, but gradually they do, and Jamie finds Connor just as he is leaving. She begs his forgiveness, and he finally gives in, and they kiss. They walk back into the prom, where Lenny performs.
After the prom, which was ocean-themed, Jamie invites everyone to eat at her parents' pizza parlor. When Lenny rushes into the kitchens to help cook the pizza, his jacket, which was covered in seaweed from the prom, accidentally lands on some of the pizzas, covering them in seaweed. They do not know this, but when the pizza is delivered to the customers, they discover it is delicious, and Jamie's father finally figures out the secret of how to save their business, ending the film on a happy note.
Cast[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Kay Panabaker | Jamie Bartlet |
| Danielle Panabaker | "IS" |
| Alexandra Krosney | Harmony |
| Marquise Brown | Lindsay |
| Allison Scagliotti | Sawyer Sullivan |
| Jason Dolley | Connor Kennedy |
| Chad Broskey | Marco Vega |
| Tom Virtue | Ralph Bartlett |
| Connie Young | Peggy Bartlett |
| Robin Riker | Diana |
| Nick Whitaker | Lenny Bartlett |
| Falisha Fehoko | Jennifer #1 |
| Malinda Money | Jennifer #2 |
| Joyce Cohen | Miss Gallagher |
Nick Whitaker performs the song I Will Be Around at the Deep Blue Sea Dance.
The book and movie[]
The movie was based on the book How My Private, Personal Journal Became A Bestseller. Julia DeVillers, the author of the book from which the movie was made, has a cameo in a pizza parlor scene. There are, however, a number of differences between the book and the film. They are:
- In the movie, Sawyer has short brown hair, in the book, Sawyer has long blonde hair.
- In the book, Harmony lives part-time in the city, and part-time in the suburbs. In the movie she lives in one place.
- In the movie, Lindsay has dark skin, black hair, and brown eyes. In the book, she has light skin, red hair, and blue eyes.
- In the book, Lindsay is constantly upset with her weight. In the movie this is never mentioned.
- In the book, Harmony has dark skin, black hair, and brown eyes. In the movie, she has light skin, green eyes, and red hair.
- In the book, Connor has brown hair. In the movie his hair is blond.
- In the book, Connor is the new kid. In the movie he is already friends with Jamie in the
beginning.
- In the movie, Jamie uses her laptop to write her book. In the book, she gets her laptop after she writes the book.
- In the book, Jamie didn't kiss Connor. In the movie, Jamie kisses Connor.
- In the book, Jamie has a sister named Allie. In the movie she has a brother named Lenny. In the scene when Jamie was deleting friends off her list of online friends, one of their names was Allie.
- In the book, Jamie calls her story "IS", but in the movie, she calls it, "IS Saves the World".
- In the movie, there was a school dance. In the book, there wasn't any dance.
- In the movie Jamie talks to "IS". In the book, she doesn't.
Location[]
Read It and Weep was filmed at Murray High School & Downtown Salt Lake City. Murray High School was also the set of: Take Down (1978), the auditorium scene of High School Musical (2006), Minutemen (2008)[1] and High School Musical: Get in the Picture (2008)[2].
Goofs[]
- The article in the school newspaper Connor writes titled "Three Cheers for Jamie Bartlett" is visible in the paper in a scene long before Connor writes the article.
- Before Jamie runs out after Connor, the floor is covered in protest flyers and seaweed. The whale is also hanging by its rear cables. After Jamie and Connor return to the dancefloor, the whale is back in its original position and the floor is clean.
References[]
External links[]
- Read It and Weep at Ultimate Disney
- Read It and Weep at Internet Movie Database