Once in a while we need a teeny bopper chick flick to update us on the lingua franca used by youths today, so from Clueless which led the contingent in the mid 90s, we now have Miley Cyrus doing the same with her new film So Undercover, which is based on the cliché laden premise of a cop of sorts, because of one's still youthful attributes, getting assigned as an undercover on a mission back in school, and taking to it like a fish out of water, having to relive bad memories and experiences, encounter romance with either a fellow student or teacher, and get to save the day.
Making things worse is having to be assigned to a sorority of sisters in the KKZ sorority house, being amongst yet another group of clichéd characters who are the usual vain pots, bimbos, back stabbing rich kids who dream of Bentleys and having to marry scions of senators, spending time dolling up than actually studying in school. Is it the Hollywood cliché now that the nerds in writing departments actually get back at their high school or college nightmares through film in this fashion by painting everyone in sorority and fraternity houses as such? One can only guess.
In any case, Miley Cyrus plays Molly, a rather tom-boyish go-getter of a private investigator in her dad's small firm in Dallas, before getting hired by FBI agent Armon (Jeremy Piven) to assist in a case involving the mob, a key witness, the witness' daughter Alex (Lauren McKnight) and some ledgers. Needing the money to bail her dad out of trouble, Molly accepts the role, gets transformed into college student complete with wardrobe, accessories, vehicle and weapons, to investigate into anything that's out of the ordinary. Nothing is out of bounds when required to use her skills to break into fellow sisters' rooms and rummage through their belongings, for clues of anyone being a suspect waiting in the wings to get at Alex.
Expect the usual episodes complete with the quintessential bimbo (Megan Park) written into the story just for weak laughs, the easily envious head of the sorority house (Eloise Mumford) ever looking over her shoulder for threats to her power, and well, the rest of the forgettable actresses in thankless roles that you won't remember much of once you step out of the cinema hall. Romance comes in the form of Cameron (Cameron Deane Stewart), being probably the only guy in college who rides a Triumph motorcycle, together with tons of red herrings that pop up now and then to keep one guessing in this tired tale of who-could-be- whom, and for Molly to show off some deducting skills every now and then, while frequently tripping up over the latest girly lingo, which isn't too funny nor going to be included in the Oxford anytime soon.
There's a neat plot development in the film for the final act that finally lifted the narrative from its lacklustre slumber, but that was too little too late, and unfortunately didn't hold up to scrutiny because it introduced a gaping plot loophole involving resource issues. I'm not quite sure who the intended demographic is for this film, because Miley Cyrus fans would already get it that she's trying to move further away from her Hannah Montana days by taking on roles that are less saccharine sweet, but skirting around characters like this one won't do her film career any good. She probably needs to tackle stronger dramatic roles if given a chance to really break out of her stereotype.
