Read It And Weep (previously titled How My Private, Personal Journal Became A Bestseller) is a Disney Channel Original Movie which premiered on July 21, 2006. It is based on the "How My Private, Personal Journal Became A Bestseller" novel by Julia DeVillers. Sisters Kay and Danielle Panabaker star as Jamie Bartlett and her alter ego Isabella (Iz or Is), respectively. Both sisters have starred in previous Disney Channel movies: Kay in Life is Ruff, and Danielle in Stuck in the Suburbs.
Plot
The film opens with Jamie Bartlett (Kay Panabaker), who has three best friends named Connor (Jason Dolley), Lindsay and Harmony, and an enemy named Sawyer Sullivan, whose boyfriend is the object of Jamie's affection. She also owns a tablet PC which she writes in every day. In that journal she writes about a character named "Isabelle", or "Is", a popular girl with incredible powers. She bases the character loosely upon her, and uses her alter-world to write her feelings about her classmates, friends, and her life. After she accidentally turns the journal in for an English assignment, it wins a writing contest.
Jamie's book then starts to attract a lot of publicity and eventually becomes a bestseller. She appears at many book signings, reality TV shows and is often interviewed. Jamie becomes increasingly materialistic and critical of the world around her, quitting her job at her father's pizza place, ridiculing her brother's guitar playing and favoring her new fame and success over her friends. She gains success and popularity, until she reveals on a television interview that the antagonist of her novel is based on Sawyer (who is now the ex-girlfriend of her crush, Marco Vega).
As the rest of her high school discovers that the book was based on Jamie's more negative feelings towards the school, she wishes to restore her relationships but her friends are unwilling to trust her again, and begin rejecting and avoiding her. This is shown when she logs onto a chat room, and one-by-one each person, who was originally logged on, logged off as soon as they saw her, except for her friend Connor. When she asks him if he hates her, he responds "I only hate what you've become", and promptly logs off. Jamie then realizes her mistakes, and also discovers some hidden feelings for Connor. To make up for her mistakes, she apologizes to her brother, Lenny, encouraging him to take up his guitar playing once more, despite what she'd said. Jamie discovers that her parents' pizza parlor business was dwindling, and they might have to face closing down the shop because of Jamie's unpopularity, so Jamie feels guilty.
When she gets ready for the prom, Jamie confronts Is (a figment of her imagination who tries to make Jamie like her and acts like the main antagonist of the movie) and demands her to stop. She then proceeds to go to the prom, where she tries to apologize to everyone. They do not accept her apology at first, but then change their minds and forgive her. Jamie then finds Connor just as he is leaving, and begs his forgiveness. He finally gives in, and they kiss. They walk back into the prom, where Lenny performs. After the prom, which was ocean-themed, Jamie invites everyone to eat at her parents' pizza parlor. When Lenny rushes into the kitchens to help with cooking the pizza, his jacket (which was covered in seaweed from the prom) accidentally lands on some of the pizzas, covering them in seaweed. They do not know this, but when the pizza is delivered to the customers, they discover it is delicious, and Jamie's father finally figures out the secret of how to save their business, which ends the film on a happy note.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Kay Panabaker | Jamie Bartlet |
| Danielle Panabaker | "IS" |
| Alexandra Krosney | Harmony |
| Marquise Brown | Lindsay |
| Allison Scagliotti | Sawyer Sullivan |
| Jason Dolley | Connor Kennedy |
| Chad Broskey | Marco Vega |
| Tom Virtue | Ralph Bartlett |
| Connie Young | Peggy Bartlett |
| Robin Riker | Diana |
| Nick Whitaker | Lenny Bartlett |
| Falisha Fehoko | Jennifer #1 |
| Malinda Money | Jennifer #2 |
| Joyce Cohen | Miss Gallagher |
Nick Whitaker performs the song "I Will Be Around" at the Deep Blue Sea Dance.
Release dates
Note: The movie was released on DVD January 16, 2007.
| Country | Channel | Date |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Disney Channel | July 21, 2006 |
| Australia | Disney Channel Australia | September 19, 2006 |
| United Kingdom | Disney Channel UK | March 9, 2007 |
| Hungary | TV2 | March 14, 2007 |
| Japan | Disney Channel Japan | March, 2007 |
| Asia | Disney Channel Asia | April, 2007 |
| Spain | Disney Channel España | 2007 |
| Brazil | Disney Channel Brazil | 2008 |
| Malaysia | TV3 | August 22, 2008 |
The book and movie
The movie was based on the book How My Private, Personal Journal Became A Bestseller. Julia DeVillers, the author of the book from which the movie was made, has a cameo in a pizza parlor scene. There are, however, a number of differences between the book and the film. They are:
- In the movie, Sawyer has short brown hair, in the book, Sawyer has long blonde hair.
- In the book, Harmony lives part-time in the city, and part-time in the suburbs. In the movie she lives in one place.
- In the movie, Lindsay has dark skin, black hair, and brown eyes. In the book, she has light skin, red hair, and blue eyes.
- In the book, Lindsay is constantly upset with her weight, yet in the movie this is never mentioned.
- In the book, Harmony has dark skin, black hair, and brown eyes. In the movie, she has light skin, green eyes, and red hair.
- In the book, Connor has brown hair, yet in the movie he has blond.
- In the book, Connor is the new kid, yet in the movie he is already friends with Jamie in the beginning.
- In the movie, Jamie uses her laptop to write her book. In the book, she gets her laptop after she writes the book.
- In the book, Jamie didn't kiss Connor. In the movie, Jamie kisses Connor.
- In the book, Jamie has a sister named Allie, but in the movie she has a brother named Lenny. In the scene when Jamie was deleting friends off her list of online friends, one of their names was Allie.
- In the book, Jamie calls her story "IS", but in the movie, she calls it, "IS Saves the World".
- In the movie, there was a school dance. In the book, there wasn't any dance.
- In the movie Jamie talks to "IS". In the book, she doesn't.
Location
Read It and Weep was filmed at Murray High School & Downtown Salt Lake City. Murray High School was also the set of: Take Down (1978), the auditorium scene of High School Musical (2006), Minutemen (2008)[1] and High School Musical: Get in the Picture (2008).[2]
Gallery
References
External links
- Read It and Weep at Ultimate Disney
- Read It and Weep at Internet Movie Database