Chasing Liberty

After a memorable debut in A Walk to Remember, Mandy Moore does not quite muster the organic comic spark or depth of character needed to punch up this sagging, formulaic teen romantic comedy set in a veritable slide show of European postcard settings. Moore stars as Anna Foster, the only child of her American president dad (Mark Harmon) and first-lady mom (Miriam Margolyes), who has tired of Secret Service surveillance. Her father’s scheme to give her the illusion of freedom backfires when she unknowingly runs away with and falls for an undercover operative (Matthew Goode) assigned to shadow her covertly in Prague. She swims naked in the Danube, among other token acts of independence, while the subplot relationship between two middle-aged agents (Jeremy Piven and Annabella Sciorra) yields much more grist, laughs and surprises. The film was directed by TV-series veteran Andy Cadiff.