Moore surprised many with her acting skills when she made her debut as a leading lady in 2002’s “A Walk to Remember”. That role was a bit out of character for a teen pop-princess, playing the daughter of a Southern preacher. Although, to be accurate Moore’s squeaky clean personality did fit well with the role. 

Moore did an admirable job in the film and showed she had some real promise as a leading lady. However, since then she has taken on roles in lackluster films. While her acting is always good, the material she was working with hasn’t always been that great. 

The worst of the bunch was “All I Want” with “Lord of the Rings” star Elijah Wood. Last year’s “How to Deal” was a bit better with Moore playing a more edgy character and doing a good job at it, but the film just wasn’t that memorable. 

Moore’s latest “Chasing Liberty” opened on Friday (Jan 9) and appears to be loosely based on the 1953 classic “Roman Holiday” starring Audrey Hepburn. 

In the film she takes on the role as the 1st daughter, Anna Foster, who is feed up with the constant monitoring of the Secret Service and attention from the media. She longs for some freedom and a semblance of teen normalcy. 

While on a diplomatic trip to Europe with her family, she manages to slip away from her Secret Service protection during a concert. She teams up with a British youth Ben Calder (newcomer Matthew Goode) and begins her adventure. You can probably guess where it develops from there. 

The twist in the plot comes with the preposterous discovery that Anna didn’t slip away from Secret Service at all; Calder is an “undercover” agent. 

Moore and the other actors do a good job with their roles considering the script they had to work with. The film is so laden with clichés that the only people likely to embrace it are young teen and pre-teen girls, which is sad because Moore has proven that she has the chops to taken on more challenging characters. 

From the cliché opening scene picturing Moore trying on cloths in front of a mirror and jumping up and down on her bed, you know you’re in for a typical teen romantic comedy.  If that’s your taste then by all means go see “Chasing Liberty”, but this film is yet another instance where we get less of Moore’s talent as an actress. 

That trend isn’t likely to change next month when her next film “Saved!”, a dark comedy, hits theatres with Moore in a supporting role as Jena Malone’s character’s best friend. 

Update: Seems that the film didn't capture the imagination of movie goers. According to studio estimates for Friday and Saturday, "Chasing Freedom" brought in around $6 million at the U.S. boxoffice, landing the film at No. 7 for the weekend.

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