Bratz

**Bratz** (also known as "Bratz: The Movie") is a 2007 American musical comedy film directed by Sean McNamara which was released on August 3, 2007 by Lionsgate.

It is based on the MGA Entertainment fashion doll line of the same name.

## Plot

The film follows four best friends: Cloe, Yasmin, Jade and Sasha who find themselves being split up into different cliques at their high school.

## Cast

* Nathalia Ramos as Yasmin
* Skyler Shaye as Cloe
* Janel Parrish as Jade
* Logan Browning as Sasha
* Chelsea Staub as Meredith Baxter Dimley
* Anneliese van der Pol as Avery
* Malese Jow as Quinn
* Ian Nelson as Dylan
* Stephen Lunsford as Cameron
* Lainie Kazan as Bubbie
* William May as Manny
* Emily Everhard as Cherish Dimly
* Jon Voight as Principal Dimly

## Production

Principal photography for "Bratz" began in February of 2007 and ended in March of 2007. Filming took place in Los Angeles, California.

Paula Abdul was dropped from the film's production before completion while working on "American Idol." Abdul was originally enlisted to provide wardrobe designs, choreograph the film, executive-produce it and have a role in the film. The news was revealed on her reality show, "Hey Paula."

Susie Singer Carter also wrote and produced the film for Lionsgate, but she lost her credit in a Writers Guild arbitration; however, her name appears as screenwriter on the final movie poster.

At the time of filming "Bratz", Nathalia Ramos (who played Yasmin) was 15 years old and had to go back & forth between shooting scenes and doing schoolwork.

When Skyler Shaye auditioned for the role of Cloe, there was a point where she accidentally knocked over a few things in the office during the audition. Shaye was absolutely sure that she blew it and wouldn't get the role as a result; however, when she received a phone call to tell her the news, she learned that her clumsiness actually helped her get the role because the character of Cloe is supposed to be a klutz.

Janel Parrish was the only actress who sang in the film. The rest of the cast members were coached on lip-syncing to prepare for the musical numbers in the film.

## Box Office

During its opening weekend, "Bratz" grossed $4,208,455 at the box office. Overall, it grossed a total of $26,013,153.

## Critical Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, "Bratz" has an approval rating of 10% based on 79 reviews with an average rating of 3.00/10. The site's consensus reads: *"Full of mixed messages and dubious role-models, Bratz is too shallow even for its intended audience."*

On Metacritic, the film has a score of 21 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews."

Writing for USA Today, Claudia Piug called "Bratz" a *"silly movie that's essentially a series of clichés strung together into a semblance of a movie."*

Entertainment Weekly called it *"an M&M-colored high school fantasia for aspirational 10- and 12-year-old girls who'll be shocked (or, hopefully, delighted) when they get to ninth grade and find out life isn't so super-Bratz-fabulous."*

In her review of the film, Sheri Linden from The Hollywood Reporter wrote: *"Finally, a postfeminist multicultural musical extravaganza for 8-year-old girls. Is Bratz not the most totally stylin' movie ever? Grownups won't think so, but for their daughters who share a "passion for fashion" with the dolls that are giving Barbie a run for her money, it will be the event of the season."*

Nathan Rabin from the A.V. Club said the film's *"strong anti-clique sermonizing would be slightly more convincing if it weren't tethered to a movie romanticizing the most awesome clique ever."*

Variety said the references and parodies in "Bratz" are *"consistently on-target"* and that *"every line of dialogue could plausibly take an exclamation point."*

Teresa Wiltz from The Washington Post said: *"This is a movie for a grade-schooler's -- a female grade-schooler's -- sensibility. It's earnest, silly and sweet, with just enough food fights and musical numbers to keep everyone else from gagging on the goo."*

John Anderson from The Los Angeles Times called it a *"movie on the wrong side side of the so-bad-it's-good line."*

Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune called "Bratz" the most horrifying film of 2007.

## Awards

**Razzie Awards** (2008)

* Worst Picture [*Nominated*]
* Worst Actress: Logan Browning, Janel Parrish, Nathalia Ramos and Skyler Shaye [*Nominated*]
* Worst Supporting Actor: Jon Voight [*Nominated*]
* Worst Screen Couple (Any combination of two totally air-headed characters) [*Nominated*]
* Worst Remake or Rip-Off (A Rip-Off If Ever There Was One!) [*Nominated*]