Chasing Liberty (2004)

Director:

Andy Cadiff

Writers (WGA):

Derek Guiley (written by) &
David Schneiderman (written by)

Release Date:

9 January 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Every family has a rebel. Even the First Family.

Plot:

Anna Foster (Mandy Moore) has never had an ordinary life. At eighteen years old, she is the most protected girl in America; she is the First Daughter...

Plot Keywords:

Undressing Scene | First Daughter | U.S. President | Washington D.C. | Bungee Jump

Awards:

5 nominations

Cast

Mandy Moore	...	Anna Foster
Stark Sands	...	Grant Hillman
Tony Jayawardena	...	White House Guard
Jeremy Piven	...	Alan Weiss
Annabella Sciorra	...	Cynthia Morales
Briony Glassco	...	Photo Mother
Lily Tello	...	Photo Daughter 1
Tyla Barnfield	...	Photo Daughter 2
Sam Ellis	...	Phil
Terence Maynard	...	Harper
Mark Harmon	...	President James Foster
Lewis Hancock	...	Press Secretary
Garrick Hagon	...	Secretary of State
Zac Benoir	...	Chairmain of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Jan Goodman	...	National Security Advisor
Robert Ashe	...	Chief of Staff
Caroline Goodall	...	Michelle Foster
Beatrice Rosen	...	Gabrielle
Matthew Goode	...	Ben Calder
The Roots	...	Themselves
Lucie Liskova	...	Drunk Girl in Club
Brian Caspe	...	Agent in Club
Marek Vasut	...	Drunk Man in Bar
Frantisek Cerný	...	Marquise de Sade Band
Milan Cimfe	...	Marquise de Sade Band
Pavel Karlik	...	Marquise de Sade Band
Joel Sugerman	...	Onlooker at the River
Petr Meissel	...	Man at Train Station
Martin Hancock	...	McGruff
Maurizio Dal Corso	...	Italian Waiter
Joseph Long	...	Eugenio
Miriam Margolyes	...	Maria
Jan Vosmik	...	Farmer's Son 1
Jan Pavel Filipensky	...	Farmer's Son 2 (as Jan Filipensky)
Jan Kuzelka	...	Farmer
Nial Iskhakov	...	Austrian Child
Adrian Bouchet	...	Gus Gus
Petr Vanek	...	Gen X-er #1
David Maj	...	Gen X-er #2
Jeremy Healy	...	Himself
Duke Faeger	...	Partier #1 (as Dusan Fager)
Dennison Betram	...	Partier #2
Zdenek Hamovz	...	Weiss' New Partner (as Zdenek Hamouz)

Directed by
Andy Cadiff

Writing credits (WGA)
Derek Guiley		(written by) &
David Schneiderman		(written by)

Produced by
Cleone Clarke	....	assistant producer
Kira Davis	....	co-producer
Broderick Johnson	....	producer
Andrew A. Kosove	....	producer
Cathy Lord	....	line producer
Petr Moravec	....	co-producer
David Parfitt	....	producer
Wayne Allan Rice	....	executive producer
Rosanna Roditi	....	supervising producer
Chrissy Spino	....	associate producer
Steven P. Wegner	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Christian Henson

Cinematography by
Ashley Rowe
Kevin Rudge

Film Editing by
Jon Gregory

Casting by
Lisa Beach
Priscilla John
Sarah Katzman

Production Design by
Martin Childs

Art Direction by
Hannah Moseley

Set Decoration by
Tina Jones

Costume Design by
Rosie Hackett

Makeup Department
Linda Dvorakova	....	hair stylist (as Linda Eisenhamerova)
Ivo Strangmüller	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Brad Arensman	....	post-production supervisor
Alessandra Asta	....	assistant unit manager
Hilary Benson	....	unit production manager
Lenka Cintalanova	....	production manager: second unit
Katherine Dorrer	....	unit production manager: Washington DC
Richard Hill	....	unit manager
Lolli Kimpton	....	production manager
Ondrej Nerud	....	production manager
Louise Seymour	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Franco Basaglia	....	third assistant director: Italy
Filippo Fassetta	....	first assistant director: Italy
Henry Forsyth	....	third assistant director
Peter Freeman	....	first assistant director: second unit Prague
Olivia Lloyd	....	second assistant director
Olda Mach	....	first assistant director
Martina Rejzkova	....	second assistant director
Chrystelle Robin	....	second assistant director
Deborah Saban	....	assistant director
Lenka Wimmerová	....	second assistant director
Michele Ziegler	....	second unit director

Art Department
Grant Armstrong	....	stand-by art director
Daniele Carrer	....	assistant art director
Sophia Chowdhury	....	assistant set decorator
Paolo Cusin	....	buyer
Paolo Cusin	....	props
Jane Harwood	....	assistant art director
Brian Kindregan	....	storyboard artist
Edita Leva	....	art department coordinator
Paul Purdy	....	property master
Tony Marks	....	carpenter (uncredited)

Sound Department
Nigel Bennett	....	assistant sound re-recording mixer
Tony Cook	....	sound maintenance
Peter Gleaves	....	adr mixer
Howard Halsall	....	dialogue editor
Joe Henson	....	sound designer
Jacques Leroide	....	foley editor
Gerard Loret	....	sound editor
Stuart Mackay	....	sound assistant
Colin Miller	....	supervising sound editor
Chris Navarro	....	adr recordist
Colin Nicolson	....	sound mixer
Robin O'Donoghue	....	sound re-recording mixer
Steve Schwalbe	....	sound editor
Jan Skala	....	cable person
Esther Smith	....	sound technician
Richard Street	....	sound re-recording mixer
Alexander Beddow	....	adr assistant (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Tim Baxter	....	film recording
Robin Beard	....	digital effects artist
Simon Carr	....	digital compositor
Hayley Collins	....	digital artist
Harriet Donington	....	visual effects producer
Clwyd Edwards	....	CG supervisor
Simon Frame	....	visual effects supervisor
Richard Gomes	....	visual effects artist
Tom Hocking	....	digital compositor
Isaac Layish	....	digital compositor
Elliot Newman	....	digital artist
Gruff Owen	....	digital compositor
Stuart Pitcher	....	digital compositor
Liz Scully	....	CG lighting lead
Joern Weisspfennig	....	digital artist

Stunts
Miroslav Lhotka	....	stunts
Lee Sheward	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Christian Almesberger	....	aerial camera operator
Werner Bacciu	....	co-key grip
Andrea Chiozzotto	....	focus puller
Ian Clark	....	focus puller
Barnaby Crocker	....	assistant camera
John Evans	....	clapper loader
Cristiano Giavedoni	....	co-gaffer
David Insley	....	director of photography: second unit
Bill Kaye	....	additional still photographer
Andy Long	....	gaffer
Vince McGahon	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Vince McGahon	....	steadicam operator
Petr Svoboda	....	rigging grip
Stepan Svoboda	....	second assistant camera
William Tracey	....	rigging gaffer
Mark Walpole	....	assistant camera

Casting Department
Faith Allbeson	....	casting assistant
Nancy Bishop	....	casting: Prague
Louis Elman	....	adr voice casting
Jirí Hrstka	....	extras casting
Tiziana Kinkela	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Catherine Buyse Dian	....	co-wardrobe supervisor
Sue Wain	....	costume supervisor

Editorial Department
Tamsin Jeffrey	....	assistant editor
Michael Nollet	....	assistant film editor
Ian Seymour	....	additional editor
John Stanborough	....	color timer
Stuart Warne	....	post-production assistant
Rob Woiwod	....	assistant film editor

Music Department
James Bellamy	....	music editor
Matt Biffa	....	music supervisor
Adam Evans	....	musician: electric guitar
Joe Henson	....	music programmer
Joe Henson	....	musician: bass guitar
Maggie Rodford	....	score producer
Benjamin Wallfisch	....	conductor
Benjamin Wallfisch	....	orchestrator
Nick Wollage	....	score recordist

Transportation Department
Tommaso Dabala	....	unit transportation manager
Antongiulio Dell'Orco	....	unit transportation manager
Graham Dolloery	....	driver
Jiri Kotlas	....	unit transportation coordinator
Enyo Mortty	....	driver: Andy Cadiff

Other crew
Kim Armitage	....	script supervisor
Charles Bodycomb	....	armorer: UK
Nicola Catullo	....	location assistant
Deborah Cesana	....	set runner
Yolanda T. Cochran	....	production controller
Tricia Deering	....	unit publicist
Katherine Dorrer	....	location manager: Washington D.C.
Scott Eaton	....	production assistant
Christopher Fealy	....	development executive
Veronika Finkova	....	production executive: Etic Films
John Formichella	....	assistant: Mr. Kosove and Mr. Johnson
Gabriela Glass	....	production coordinator (as Gabriela Böhmová)
Matteo Gottardis	....	unit manager assistant: Venice
Jim Hajicosta	....	financial controller
Blake Hamilton	....	assistant: Mr. Kosove and Mr. Johnson
Robyn Harwood	....	assistant: Mr. Wegner
Veronika Hladikova	....	assistant: Mandy Moore
David House	....	stand-in
Nicky Jarvis	....	unit nurse
Dan Johnson	....	production runner
Ashley Kravitz	....	script clearance
Aurelio Marino	....	accountant
Jon Miller	....	assistant accountant
Nathan Moore	....	assistant: Mr. Kosove and Mr. Johnson
Dan Palmer	....	assistant accountant
Jennifer Petruniak	....	assistant: Ms. Davis
Lucie Pokorná	....	assistant: Cathy Lord
Greg Rodgers	....	assistant: Mr. Kosove and Mr. Johnson
Donald Sabourin	....	production coordinator
David Seaton	....	location manager
Molly Smith	....	production executive
Chrissy Spino	....	assistant: Andy Cadiff
Carla Zacchia	....	location accountant
James Gilligan	....	electric dailies (uncredited)
Michael J. Harker	....	completion bond representative (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Alcon Entertainment
• ETIC Films
• TradeMark Films

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (2004) (USA) (theatrical)
• Net5 (2007) (Netherlands) (TV) (first national airing)
• Warner Bros. (2004) (France) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2004) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2004) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD) (VHS)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2004) (Brazil) (VHS) (DVD)
• Warner Sogefilms S.A. (2004) (Spain) (theatrical)

Special Effects

• Men From Mars (visual effects)
• Capital FX (optical and digital effects)

Other Companies

• 2020 Casting  extras casting
• AFM Lighting  lighting equipment
• ARRI Media  camera and grip equipment
• Air Studios  music recorded at
• Air-Edel Recording Studios  music recorded at
• Blowup  stills processing
• Capital FX  opticals
• Chapman / Leonard Studio Equipment  cranes and dollies
• DeLane Lea Sound Centre  post-production facilities
• EXTRAfilms S.r.o.  extras casting
• ICN Studios  music recorded at
• Mad Dog Casting  extras casting
• Movie People, Milano  lighting equipment
• Salon  editing equipment
• Shaun Webb Design  titles
• Shepperton Sound  sound re-recording
• Tru-Cut  negative cutting

Also Known As:

First Daughter (USA) (working title)
Untitled First Daughter Project (USA) (working title)
Untitled Mandy Moore Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual content and brief nudity.

Runtime:

USA:111 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English | French | German | Hebrew | Italian | Spanish

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

South Korea:15 | Iceland:L | Australia:PG | Finland:K-7 | Germany:6 | Netherlands:AL | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | UK:12A | USA:PG-13 (certificate #40202)

Filming Locations:

Barrandov Studios, Prague, Czech Republic

Company:

Alcon Entertainment

Trivia:

The final scene features an opera house rehearsal of Puccini's "Nessun Dorma" from Turandot. The complete opera is not being performed because the ending of the piece uses the concert ending.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: When the news report at the beginning of the film shows Anna being toured around Prague, there is a segment showing Anna having a "photo op" at Prague Castle. In the shot, Prague Castle is clearly visible in the far distance in the background of the shot.

Quotes:

Cynthia Morales: Love is not always that easy, Anna.
Alan Weiss: Nothing worth getting ever is.

Movie Connections:

References Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

Soundtrack:

Life Will Go On

At least Mandy Moore has a great smile!

"So Stephanie's at a wrestling event," said Amber, my 16-year-old sister, "and you're watching 'Chasing Liberty.' What's wrong with this picture?"

It's a good question, and it's one I'm scared to answer. Stephanie's coworkers had an extra (and FREE) ticket to WWE's Raw and asked if she wanted to go. Much to my chagrin (because I faced the very scary prospect of watching the screening of "Chasing Liberty" by myself) she wanted to go. So I said, "Have a good time!" and proceeded to beg my sister to go to the movie screening. Thankfully, she did. However, that doesn't change the fact that I've now seen more Romantic Comedies within the last year than I have in my previous 27 years combined. I am not turning into a girl, I am NOT turning into a girl, I AM NOT TURNING INTO A GIRL!

And you know, I'd love to be all macho and talk about how horrible this movie is all while flexing my biceps and muscle-bouncing my pecs, but I have to admit that the movie *swallows manly pride* isn't awful. Now don't get me wrong, this isn't a great movie in any way, but I happen to think that Mandy Moore has a likable screen presence. Plus, I think she's cute and therefore that helped me sit through this. Because, you know, I'm a guy and um, macho guys can watch a girly movie as long as a cute girl is in it! Yeah!

My main problem with the movie is the lame dialogue. "Do you think they'll shoot me if I kiss you?" "No, but I will if you don't." Yeah, how about you just shoot *me* and sort it out later. It's also annoying how Mandy Moore drops little pump-fisting tidbits of you-can-do-it "wisdom" throughout the movie. "The things that you're scared of are usually the most worthwhile." And I heard that a stitch in time saves nine.

Not surprisingly, this is a pretty predictable movie. Mandy Moore rebels. Matthew Goode helps her escape. It turns out that Matthew is working for the secret service. He doesn't tell Mandy. They fall in love. Cheesy pop songs fill the air. Mandy finds out Matthew lied and storms off. And well, do I really need to tell you how it ends? No, I didn't think so.

Speaking of the cheesy pop songs, man, things started off so well with Mandy dancing around to Tom Petty's "American Girl." But aside from a Chris Isaak song later in the movie, the rest were pure Velveeta. It's a standard formula for these types of movies: "Uh-oh, we've had 10 minutes of lame dialogue, we need 20 seconds of a sappy love song. STAT!"

If Mandy Moore hadn't been in this movie, then there really wouldn't have been anything to hold my interest. That's not to say the rest of the cast is bad, they just don't do a lot for me. Matthew Goode is all right I suppose. I'll admit that he's better than your typical teenage movie pretty boy, but what's up with his perpetual expression of confusion? He just walked around most the time with a vacant stare and would often look off to the side as if he was trying to find a way to escape his surroundings. I found myself doing the same thing a couple of times, but Mandy Moore would suck me right back into the movie. Oh, and note to the producers: escaping from the secret service on a moped doesn't help anybody's tough guy image.

Jeremy Piven and Annabella Sciorra are quarreling Secret Service Agents who do the best they can with the cheesy material they're given, and Mark Harmon fails to turn the cinematic world on its ear with his Presidential portrayal. He wasn't bad, but you could've put just about anybody in the role and gotten the same effect.

The movie runs a little too long. I think 90 minutes would suffice. This thing is almost 2 hours long, and there's just really no need.

THE GIST:

This is a Romantic Comedy that contains a predictable romance plot and is only occasionally funny. It's worth a matinee price at best, and I'd really recommend saving it for a rental. Better yet, just catch it when it eventually airs on TV.

If you're a teenage girl, a Mandy Moore fan, or someone who loves cute romantic comedies no matter how cheesy or predictable they are, then you'll probably enjoy this. If you're a guy, then please don't see this alone. If your significant other wants to see it, then make sure and tell her that she "owes you" and then quietly enjoy watching Mandy Moore for a couple of hours.