Rating: 
Summary: Good idea, watchable but messy
Review: As the interviews on the DVD reveal, everyone associated with this film was earnestly committed and thought they had a good idea going. The initial concept does sound original and ripe for a movie treatment; I had no idea there was an entire culture, not to mention economy, blooming out of karaoke, the sing along machine found in bars. The production's problems start with the writing. Someone wanted to do Urban Cowboy Sings, someone wanted to do a genial road film, and someone wanted to do an ensemble of human stories. Someone didn't tie it all together, instead writing melodramatic speeches for underdeveloped characters. What began as a good idea, with good music and a lively pace, gets messy. The writers and director should have pared back the contrivances of how the very mixmatched characters came together to let them develop more honestly, and then they should have indulged in some irony to temper those scenes that come across as unintentionally absurd. They should have cast Kevin Spacey in Huey Lewis's role (though he was better than I expected), and someone more like Kate Hudson in the role of his daughter. They should have explained what exactly happened in the gas station. The nudity, however fleeting, was gratuitous. What worked very well was the music-there should have been more! All of the leads were in good voice, including Paltrow who was a surprise.
Rating:
Summary: Not a very good Plot filled with Decent Performances
Review: Why would anyone make a movie about Kareoke is beyond me, and that is what Duets is about. A bunch of [down and outs] who love Kareoke...it's even a dream for some of them. The terrific ensemble do what they can with the boring premise and make it semi interesting. Gywneth paltrow surprisingly is the standout as she portrays an 18 year old who meets her estranged father for and accompanies him to the Kareoke contest. Paul Giamatti and Andre Braugher are fantastic as a duo who hit the road together and have wonderful chemisitry on screen, and Scott Speedman from Felicity is very charming as a down on his luck taxi driver. However each scene drags the because of the bad direction and silly dialogue. Overly long and taken too seriously. I was hoping for more of a movie that was similiar to the kareoke scene in My Best Friends Wedding. This movie is nothing like that. For hardcore kareoke fans and Gwyneth fans only!
Rating: 
Summary: Well ... the music's nice
Review: "Duets" is absolutely not a movie for the ages, but it's worth watching on cable or as a bargain movie rental.The acting is mostly fairly strong -- although Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow is strikingly bad in this, playing some sort of strange little girl-cum-temptress that smacks of a lack of direction more than an actual artistic choice, and it's odd to see Huey Lewis giving a more nuanced performance -- and the music ranges from the merely pleasant to the quite wonderful. (No, I've never heard "Freebird" song like that, either.) But the plot is all over the map, and is implausible at times, shockingly so in some cases (I'm not sure the scene in the gas station can be glossed over the way it was at the end). The three individual pairs each could have a movie told about them, but instead we get not highlights, but schtick from each. We don't learn more about Scott Speedman's character, really, and his big "affecting" speech at the end just falls flat, since we don't know what's motivating Maria Bellow. The only thing worth buying here is the soundtrack. The movie itself is a renter, at most.
Rating: 
Summary: Hidden Talents
Review: I think this is a great movie for those music lovers out there. I have heard a few bad reviews of duets, but everyone that i know who has seen it just fell in love with it. It is now one of my favorite movies, and even bought the soundtrack the day after my first viewing. To top it off it was really Gwyneth Paltrow singing. That pretty much made my day. I immensly enjoy singing in movies, especially when you didnt even know that they could hit a note. I reccommend this movie to people with a love for singing, no matter what you sound like, and i hope you all enjoy it as much as I do.
Rating:
Summary: Ok
Review: This ensemble film about several people on their was to a large Karaoke contest in Omaha is fairly good. Gwyneth Paltrow is terribly miscast and not very believable. Huey Lewis is surprisingly good as her father the karaoke hustler. The other two couples are a bit strange and unbelievable, but the movie overall, is pretty enjoyable. I am glad I rented it and didn't spend alot to see it in the theater
Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly entertaining.
Review: Having received bad reviews, this film surprises by being better than most people would expect. First and foremost, there are several memorable performances here, and although some dialogue seem two-dimensional, the actors pull them off nonetheless. Secondly, the singing is quite good, especially by Lewis and Paltrow. One major flaw of this film is that there are too many characters so that one never really has the chance to get comfortable with any of them to feel for them. If the numerous characters are necessary, however, the plot could have been constructed a bit more smoothly. Overall, it is an entertaining film in which Gwyneth Paltrow is the true reason to see it. The DVD is recommended, as there is footage of Gwyneth and Lewis in the studio recording.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable!
Review: I've read a number of the reviews posted on this movie and not one mentions the beauty of the song that Paltrow and Babyface sing together over the closing credits. After watching this film, we went right out and bought the CD - "Just My Imagination" as rearragned by Babyface is truly amazing, I cannot believe that it did not get airplay (it is by far the superior song on the soundtrack) - At any rate, the relationship between Giamatti and Braugher's character's was heartwarming (if you take the time to look beneath the surface) - This movie is worth seeing..
Rating:
Summary: I'm glad I waited for the DVD release
Review: This film wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible either. The 3 diverse couples whose fortunes merge (sort of) at the end is an interesting plot device that only works half way. It would have helped if they really all connected in the end. I felt that all of the characters were quite believable for what they were, and the singing was much better than anticipated, especially that of Gwyneth Paltrow. It was just too bad that the loose ends never even get close to each other, much less tied up. Over all I enjoyed it, but can't recommend it that highly.
Rating: 
Summary: Huh?????
Review: Whoever decided to market this movie using basically only the one scene between Huey Lewis and Gwenyth Paltrow was a GENIUS. If I had know anything accurate about his movie I would never have wasted my time. They should have made it look more like the traffic accident that it was. Tip to Gwenyth: don't make any more movies for daddy.
Rating:
Summary: Something different and truly refreshing
Review: There has been some negative reviews of this film, so I was a bit skeptical about seeing it. Being a big fan of Scott Speedman I felt I should see it. In any case I got ready to go see it in the theater, to find out that it only played for about one week in my area. When it came out on video I finally got to see it. This movie stayed with me. After watching it I immediately got the soundtrack. (If you haven't seen the movie, the beauty of the soundtrack might be lost on you.) This movie does drag on a bit, I will admit that. However, I think that it's about hope. Hope in this case comes in the form of singing other's songs--an odd place to find it. The story line of Todd and Reggy especially touched me. It's been argued that it's degarding to African Americans, but I disagree on that point. It's not about black or white, Reggy could have just as easily been a white man. It's about finally doing something right. (Remisicent of Claire Danes in Brokedown Palace.) Paltrow's innocence made the storyline with her and her father. He's not a very likeable character--obviously his shallowness is slapped in our faces from the beginning with his taudry one night stand. She believed in him though, and that made us give him a second chance, just as she did. I don't think the acting was weak on either of the part of Lewis or Paltrow. My main reason for seeing this film was that I was curious to see Scott Speedman in a role other then as Ben in the WB sitcom "Felicity." Though his acting was still good, I coudln't really seperate his character Billy from his character Ben. He sort of seemed the same--and I can't pinpoint exactly why, maybe the way he delivered dialogue. It still worked for the film, but I was disappointed that he wasn't as versatile as I'd hoped. I'm with most people, I was shocked and delighted by Paltrow's voice. (My hunch is that Bruce Paltrow wanted people to see Gwynth's hidden talent.) "Cruisin'" is obviously the song that sticks out. (Though all songs were good, albeit some definately better then others.) It's a must see. It makes you think.
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