I have never been a fan of the popular TV show 'American Idol.' OK, I'm a Japanese, but I know it's popular in America. Still, watching Simon Cowell et al. is like knee surgery to me (well, actually, I saw this US TV show once before, but I instantly hated it and turned it off.)

And I never expected the producers dare to make a film out of the show. Sure, Kelly Clarkson is a nice person, and so is Justin Guarini, I only imagine this not having seen them yet, but ... theatrical movies??? Single record or even album, I can understand, but a movie? And with the '20th Century Fox' fanfare? Oh Hollywood is so desperate.

Anyway, the film. The story is thin, but that's not real problem. Three boys and three girls meet at the beach. Period. You can see some dancing while the stock characters delivering the dialogues. You can hear music; you can see some gags; and you get ... what you want. In short, Kelly Clarkson is virtually playing herself (her role as 'Kelly') down-to-earth, nice, all-American girl.

The real problem is, the film is not fun; one of Kelly's friends behaves so nasty and mean that I started to disbelieve my eyes. She steals cell phone number from Justin; she plots against Kelly and Justin with false notes and incredible lies, and Kelly is so easily deceived because she is her best friend. Guys in the film are no different; one of them is a typical 'nerd' stock character, who is there to be laughed at with his 'Star Trek' reference and obsession for the Internet.

Add to the poor story, the songs are forgetable, and dance choreography is not good either.

Director Robert Iscove did a far better job in 'She's All That' with Rachel Leigh Cook, but it may be unfair to blame him for the film's awful results. The writer Kim Fuller's CV includes the script of 'S Club Seeing Double' and 'Spice World' both featuring the groups I never hear anymore. And his brother Simon Fuller happens to be the exective producer of ... yes, 'American Idol.' So what else should I add?

In the great tradition of hokey, Florida-based movies from earlier eras (e.g., "Some Like it Hot"), From Justin to Kelly was an incredible film. I cannot believe how well ALL of those extras were able to carry off the dancing in perfect synchrony.

My only complaint with this DVD is that there seems to be something weird about the audio whenever the big dance numbers happen. There's only one audio setting and it has a strange surround sound echo. I checked my TV and DVD player settings and everything else plays normally. It's also a shame that there's no soundtrack on CD available for this movie.

But still -- YOU'VE GOTTA HAVE IT!

Originally I had not wanted to watch the movie because I had heard the reviews saying it was a bomb, and the title really sounded corny. But, one evening it was on cable, so I thought, well I don't have to rent it to watch it now..so what could it hurt. The movie starts out very much like a bad spring break movie, but then that's part of the charm. Showing that among all the immature antics of those around two people..somehow they continue to stay connected. Some of the music is meant for fun, but listening and watching Justin and Kelly sing "Anytime" and "Timeless" is symbolic of a great musical. Listening to Justin sing "Anytime" makes my knees weak.. there's a passion and power in his voice, Kelly too. Their voices amplify a powerful sound and feeling.. it can't help but make me smile... maybe it will you too. If you are looking for a gun shooting, car crashing, foul mouth movie..you'll need to look elsewhere..you won't find that here. But, if want to sit back and enjoy fun on the beach with some really great singers..then enjoy.

This is one of the best musicals I have ever seen! The rest of the movie is good too, but if you fell in love with Kelly's and Justin's powerful vocals, you will love this! I would also recommend the soundtrack to this movie, the songs are awesome. Justin and Kelly sound GREAT together! Their voices just flow together beautifully. If you like Justin and Kelly you will love this movie!

I would give this movie a rating of -5 if I could. It was the worst thing I have ever seen. There was absolutely no talent. From the first 2 minutes in, it was a huge failure. You could tell right away that there was no acting or singing ability. Actually, Kelly doesn't have that bad of a voice....but the concept of them making a MUSICAL??? Bad call. Don't waste your time. It was major crap. From the beginning until it finally took me out of my misery and ended.