So Undercover

Plot

Molly Morris (Miley Cyrus), a private investigator based in Dallas, takes photos of cheating men. During one of her investigations, F.B.I. Agent Armon Ranford (Jeremy Piven), offers her a job with the F.B.I., to watch over Alex Patrone (Lauren McKnight), the daughter of a Senator, who was involved in an organized crime case. Molly is reluctant at first, but ultimately decides to accept Ranford's offer. She goes undercover as a sorority student named Brooke Stonebridge and receives help from her father (Mike O'Malley). She meets Sasha Stolezinsky (Eloise Mumford), the head of the sorority and other members, including Becky (Kelly Osbourne), Cotton (Megan Park), Hunter (Morgan Calhoun), and Alex, whom she has been hired to protect. At first, she thinks that Sasha may be a suspect, but as it turns out, she only changed her identity from Suzy Walters so she could start a new life rather than continue to be an outcast. Molly also meets her love interest, Nicholas Dexter (Josh Bowman), another student at the college. Molly begins to suspect one of her professors, Professor Talloway (Matthew Settle), when she discovers that Alex secretly goes off to his home on a lake. She continuously reports back to Ranford, who at one point tells Molly that Nicholas Dexter, her love interest, is not his real name. She does not believe him, and soon figures out that Ranford is not who he says he is. One night, she follows Alex to Talloway's home, only to discover that her professor is actually a federal agent. She encounters a gunman, who she escapes from. She figures out that Ranford is actually behind the mask, who drives off with a kidnapped Alex and soon finds Talloway injured from a gunshot wound outside his home. When she returns to the sorority house, she encounters two federal agents working on the case. They are hesitant to believe her at first, but Morris convinces them to help solve the case with the help of her sorority sisters. They execute the plan, rescue Alex, and corner Ranford, who is arrested. Alex hands over a SD card, with the evidence in her father's case, to Molly who hands it over to the F.B.I.

The F.B.I. is pleased with Molly's work, and she is offered to continue working for them. She declines, and instead wants to continue going to college. Two months pass, and she is taking photos of a guy Cotton is dating. Nicholas comes up to her, revealing they are dating and they kiss as the film ends.

Cast

Casting

In 2010, it was announced that Miley Cyrus would portray Molly Morris, Mike O'Malley would portray Molly's father, Jeremy Piven would portray Armon, Kelly Osbourne would portray Becky, Josh Bowman would portray Nicholas, Eloise Mumford, Lauren McKnight, and Matthew Settle, among others were announced.

Filming

Principal photography began in December 13, 2010 in New Orleans, Louisiana and at Tulane University. The filming finished in January 2011. On August 15, 2011, new scenes were filmed at University of California in Los Angeles and finished days after. Filming was supposed to be held in Sydney, Australia, but this was canceled for undisclosed reasons.

Release

Shooting for the film began in late 2010 and ended in early 2011. In March 2011, Exclusive Media Group, the film's studio announced that The Weinstein Company acquired the U.S. distribution rights for the film, and said that "the film will be released in October 2011 when schools are back in session." However, the film was not released in October 2011, but instead in September 2011. In October 2012, the U.K. theatrical trailer was released, which announced a release date of December 7, 2012. Later, distributor Millennium Films announced they had acquired the U.S. distribution rights for the film, and said that the film would have a direct-to-video release in the United States on February 5, 2013. The film has been released in theatres of nine countries worldwide; six European markets and three Asian ones. So Undercover was released in Australia on April 10 as a direct-to-video release as it was in the U.S. The film was set to be released in 2011, but it was released in 2012.

Critical reception

The film has received overwhelmingly negative reviews, with a "Rotten" rating of 6% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 16 reviews.