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Throw together a burnt-out businessman, an escaped prison convict, a cab driver, a promiscuous woman with a beautiful voice, a ladies’ man, and an abandoned teenage daughter; give them all a passion for karaoke and you’ve got…

…a really stupid movie.

Let’s put it this way: I enjoyed the previews that ran before DUETS more than I did the movie itself. The first ten minutes of this show set the stage for what will follow, revealing gratuitous sex, nudity, profanity, drugs and alcohol abuse—themes that remained throughout the rest of the show.

DUETS takes place in the early 90s, with a splash of songs from the generations. That make the ensuing karaoke contests funny and entertaining; however, there was little else to make this movie appealing for families. The film follows three main story lines that come together in the end at the qualifying for the Karaoke Nationals contest.

One story involves a businessman who lacks attention from his family after returning from a long trip, so he sets out to buy a pack of cigarettes and ends up driving to the next state. While there, he stops at a bar and discover Karaoke for the first time. He also "discovers" that a life wasted on drugs and no responsibility can be "fun" and he’s hooked. He soon sets out for the next karaoke contest. An escaped convict (whose only talent is singing the Blues) hitches a ride with the businessman. Of course, at the next bar they enter they sing a karaoke duet and (big surprise) take first place, winning the jackpot and qualifying for Nationals. Along the way, Gwyneth Paltrow (playing the abandoned teenage daughter of a traveling karaoke junkie) also qualifies for the Nationals, as do other main characters. The rest, as they say, is Hollywood history.

Though the movie was cast with dynamic actors, they were placed in shallow roles, especially Gwyneth Paltrow’s character who was too young to allow for the star’s acting potential. The three story lines that eventually cross paths are really pathetic: six adults, no morals, and no goals in life other than to sing karaoke. It’s too bad, this movie could have been funny and entertaining if it could have stayed PG territory and had a semblance of a plot.

--What unwise choices did the main characters make as adults?

--How is our family like or unlike the family in the movie?

--What changes would you make in this movie to help it engage more viewers?

Nicole Trujillo