Tagline: Every family has a rebel… even the First Family.
Budding teenage beauty Anna Foster (Mandy Moore) wants the American dream: life and liberty to pursue happiness. But as the only child of the President of the United States, every detail of Anna’s life is constantly monitored by the media, the public and her very protective parents who are backed up by a battalion of Secret Service agents that safeguard Anna from any danger, including the perils of first dates. Charming and irreverent, Anna just wants the freedom to live life like any other teenager which means ditching the agents who are seriously curbing her good times.
While on a diplomatic trip to Europe with her parents, Anna extracts a promise from her father, the President, which allows her a night alone, unescorted. But when her dad has a change of heart, Anna decides to take things into her own hands. In a wild escape, incognito Anna meets mysterious stranger Ben Calder, who aids her European getaway. Reveling in her newfound independence, Anna decides to take Europe by storm, accompanied by dashing Ben.
As Anna’s madcap European adventure takes her farther from her family and brings her closer to Ben, she’s dreading the day her holiday will come to an end. Because the most powerful man in the free world is her father, Anna knows that she has a lot more to worry about than getting grounded. But before she can face the President, she has to find a way tell Ben the truth about her identity and risk getting her heart broken the one thing her father can’t fix.
Eighteen-year-old Anna Foster (Mandy Moore) just wants the American dream: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. At the very least, she wants the freedom to live like any other teenager. But as the only child of the President of the United States, every detail of Anna’s life is constantly monitored by the media, the public and her very protective parents backed up by a battalion of Secret Service agents dedicated to safeguard her from danger, including the perils of first dates.
Chasing Liberty is a 2004 American romantic comedy film directed by Andy Cadiff and starring Mandy Moore and Matthew Goode. Written by Derek Guiley and David Schneiderman, the film is about the eighteen-year-old daughter of the President of the United States whose rebellion against the constant presence of Secret Service agents in her life leads to a European adventure and an unexpected romance. Chasing Liberty was filmed on location in Prague, Venice, Berlin, London, and Washington, D.C.
Chasing Liberty opened on January 9, 2004, worldwide in 2,400 theatres, earning $6,081,483 on its opening weekend. It went on to gross $12,195,626 domestically with an additional $117,697 in foreign revenue, totaling $12,313,323 in worldwide gross earnings, failing to bring back its $23 million budget.
Romance on the Run
Anna may not have a plan, but it soon appears that Daddy does. That handsome devil with the Vespa who fortuitously appeared right when she needed him is actually Ben Calder (MATTHEW GOODE), a young British field agent for the Secret Service with an impeccable record. His attentiveness to Anna is just his work ethic. Ben’s new assignment, under direct order from the American president, is to pretend to be a regular guy and hang with the First Daughter until she gets this little independence thing out of her system and wants to come home.
“Matthew is a London stage actor,” Kosove says, regarding Goode’s casting. “He came to Los Angeles to read with Mandy and just blew the competition away. He’s genuinely funny, self-assured, witty and undeniably handsome; everything you look for in a leading man. Plus, he’s British.” Adds Cadiff, “We were looking for an English actor for the part, to be true to the story, rather than cast an American and teach him the accent.”
As for the fact of Ben’s employment, Oscar-winning producer David Parfitt (Shakespeare in Love) confirms that “the American Secret Service has local agents in virtually every country where Americans have a presence so it’s completely credible that an Englishman like Ben Calder would be working in cooperation with White House staff away from home.”
Still, Anna’s mother isn’t at all sure this is the way to go, pointing out to her husband that it was his lack of trust in Anna that led to this rebellion in the first place, but the president is resolute. He has the perfect plan: the illusion of freedom, minus the pitfalls. “There are only two things you need to do,” he orders Calder. “Keep her completely safe at all times and make sure she has no idea who you are.”
Ben hates it. This is not why he signed up for the service. It’s a babysitting gig, pure and simple. Clearly, there are better uses for his talent than to supervise some precious spoiled brat with a whim to go slumming. “He thinks it’s going to be a nightmare,” says Goode, playing the reluctant knight to Anna’s princess. “He also thinks it won’t be long before she tires of clubs and street life and longs for the warmth and satin sheets of her luxury hotel. Turns out he’s wrong on both counts.”
Most of all, Ben is wrong in expecting Anna to be a spoiled brat. To his surprise, she’s actually quite charming, spirited, resourceful and funny, “though stubborn as a mule” he claims, when it comes to accepting his sensible suggestions, like the one he makes about calling it a night right before she throws off her clothes and goes for a midnight dip in the Vltava River. This is a girl who’s trying to get away from people telling her what to do, so the last thing she needs is another keeper, no matter how cute he is. And the last thing she wants to do is go home.
“Ben’s job,” as Goode wryly describes, “is to be charming and keep his identity a secret while staying in constant touch via cell phone with the agents who are tailing them, not to mention the president of the United States, and let Anna have her fun while making sure she doesn’t get herself into trouble. All in all, it’s exhausting and involves a lot of running around. Trust me.”
When Anna takes her swim, Ben is duty-bound to slog in after her and cover her up so she doesn’t catch cold or ` worse ` attract a crowd. When she climbs a rooftop for a better view of a street theater performance, he clambers up after her, all the while muttering darkly to himself about re-thinking his career path. And when she announces that she’s heading for the Love Parade in Berlin, he has no choice but to buy a train ticket and try to enjoy the ride.
Chasing Liberty (2004)
Starring: Mandy Moore, Matthew Goode, Jeremy Piven, Annabella Sciorra, Caroline Goodall, Briony Glassco, Tyla Barnfield, Mark Harmon, Jan Goodman, Garrick Hagon
Directed by: Andrew Cadiff
Screenplay by: Derek Guiley, David Schneiderman, Kari Lizer
Production Design by: Martin Childs
Cinematography by: Ashley Rowe
Film Editing by: Jon Gregory
Costume Design by: Rosie Hackett
Set Decoration by: Tina Jones
Art Direction by: Hannah Moseley
Music by: Christian Henson
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sexual content and brief nudity.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: January 9, 2004
Visits: 135
