Hilary Duff has come a long way from her Disney roots on Lizzie McGuire, first diving into the movie scene with semi-lame childish flicks like Cinderella Story and Cheaper By the Dozen, then moving on to more independent releases like 2009’s What Goes Up (which I enjoyed), and finally landing a guest role as Dan Humphrey’s movie-star love interest on this season of Gossip Girl (which I also enjoyed!).

In According to Greta, released to DVD this week, Duff stars as (you guessed it) Greta, a rebellious teen who has been exiled to her grandparent’s seemingly boring home in Ocean Drive, New Jersey, for the summer so that her mother can “repair” her third marriage in peace.  Greta feels frustrated and unwanted, constantly wishing her deceased father were around to help.  Deciding that the world would be better off without her, the 17-year-old morbidly declares that she will kill herself after she finishes high school in one short year.  She begins making a “To Die” list, brainstorming ways to off herself, as well as a “To Do” list of goals to accomplish before the end of her life.

At first, the premise of Greta disturbed me, but as the story unwound, I began to understand her unfortunate situation.  I also assumed that Hilary Duff’s sweetheart charisma would block her ability to succeed as a suicidal, I-do-what-I-want teen, but she pulls it off well enough.  However, it was not Duff’s acting that made this movie worthwhile for me – it was newcomer Evan Ross, who plays Greta’s love interest, Julie (yes, it’s a boy).

Greta lands a summer waitress job where she meets Julie, an aspiring chef with a criminal background who has changed his life around for the better.  Throughout the film, he shows a sensitive, compassionate side that viewers will fall in love with, and ends up really caring about Greta and her mental instability.  Predictably, Greta’s unexpected romance with Julie inspires her to second guess her life plans as she realizes that perhaps some things are worth living for.

While the plot was a bit unsurprising, it dug deep into character emotion and stirred up radical thoughts on the human quality of life as we grow older.  According to Greta is certainly not the best movie I’ve ever seen, but it did its job by engaging my interest and making me think.

I believe we will see more of Evan Ross (in fact, I know we will…check out his IMDB post- and pre-production list!), and I love Hilary Duff simply based on her reluctance to become a female-child-star-gone-party-girl.   I look forward to seeing more from these two young stars in the future.