Starring Miley Cyrus as a private detective, So Undercover is a film you have probably never heard of, and even if you had, if you are above the age of six you know to stay away. This is the kind of movie you really have to wonder what was going through the studio’s head when they green-lit it. My guess is they already had a poster made, and then realised what a stupid idea this was, but didn’t want to waste the money on the printing fee, so they made the movie and gave it pretty much no advertising. I have seen no adverts for this film anywhere except the cinema website.
It has a release date of February 2013 in the US and it’s unsurprisingly going direct-to-DVD. UK cinemas now seem to be a dumping ground for movies studios know won’t make any money, but want to scrape in as much cash as possible. First Fred: The Movie, now this?
Molly Moris (Cyrus) is a private investigator specialising in adultery who dropped out of high school to support her gambling addicted ex-cop father. While on a job, she is approached by an FBI agent (Jeremy Piven) to go undercover in a college sorority to recover an SD card that has some documents on it leading to a Mafia gang. Who are they? What are they doing? Who cares! We can have clichéd comic set pieces and incredibly obvious twists instead of a plot!
The trouble with So Undercover is it’s comedy. It isn’t funny. That’s a pretty big step in the wrong direction, but it’s not just boring (which it is), it’s painful. The cringe-worthy attempts at humour almost make it funny for being so unfunny, if that makes any sense. The idea that Miley Cyrus could not only be a private investigator, but could also be called upon by the FBI, who have their own people for this very purpose, despite having no training in the field, is ludicrous. The premise is extremely misguided and leads to plot holes before the movie has even started.
The acting is extremely bad, with no one giving a good performance, especially Cyrus herself. She proves once again she’s not cut out for acting, and given that the show Hannah Montana was cancelled, she’s now reduced to doing this. It’s almost quite a sad little film, as it’s a showcase of how in just a few years a person can be incredibly famous and then spiral out of the public consciousness because your show was cancelled and your album bombed. The US direct-to-DVD release means pretty much no one except Hannah Montana die hards will see it, and it should stay that way. Want to see this premise done right? Watch Agent Cody Banks. It’s a fun, interesting, and actually pretty good family friendly spy comedy with a lead who actually has some form of charisma. Seek out that, and leave this to rot in a bargain bin.
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