Cadet Kelly

Kelly Collins is a creative, independent-minded teenager in New York whose life is upended when her mother marries an army officer. He becomes commandant of a military academy, and Kelly is enrolled there as a cadet. She struggles with the school's discipline and strict routines, clashing in particular with a cadet officer determined to see her fail. Kelly eventually takes an interest in the drill team, a pursuit that gives her a way to fit in without losing herself.

Cadet Kelly is a comedy directed by Larry Shaw, the second of the two films he directed, following Donor in 1990. Gail Parent and Michael Walsh wrote the screenplay, and Kevin Lafferty produced. Hilary Duff plays Kelly, with Christy Carlson Romano as Jennifer, Gary Cole as Sir, Shawn Ashmore as Brad, Aimee Garcia as Gloria and Linda Kash as Samantha. The film runs 100 minutes and was made for television in Canada and the United States.

Released in March 2002, the film has a rating of 5.5 out of 10 on IMDb from around 17,000 votes and 6.2 out of 10 on TMDB from roughly 630 votes — modest scores from audiences of quite different sizes, with the smaller TMDB group marking it somewhat higher than the larger IMDb group.