In New York City, Charlie Prince is an orphaned teenager living in his late mother's old karaoke bar, The Palace, willed to his acerbic and unloving stepfather, Arthur. Arthur makes Charlie do most of the work cleaning the bar; the other employees, couple Diego and Martha, love Charlie like their own son, while his stepbrothers, the selfish Andrew and the nicer but simple-minded Lloyd, only annoy him. All three boys dream of being singers, and while Andrew and Lloyd lack talent (which Arthur is blind to), Charlie is vocally talented and can write music, though he can't catch a break.
On the other hand, pop star Kadee Worth is the daughter of music mogul Reginald Worth, president of Majesty Records. While the world knows her as a glamorous superstar, she is secretly frustrated with singing other people's songs and wearing clothes others choose for her. Her self-centered "boyfriend," Finn, whom she is dating, adds to her annoyance because her father believes it will help her sell records. Meanwhile, all Kadee wants is for the world to hear and see her true talent.
One day, Arthur sends Charlie to deliver his brothers' track "Androyd" to Majesty Records for their newly announced talent contest, and on the way, he bumps into Kadee after her dog, Trumpet, runs towards him. He drops off the disk and then notices a job offer as a janitor. Shawn, an employee of Majesty Records, sees him and tells the receptionist to ensure Charlie gets the job. Shortly after he's hired, Shawn catches Charlie singing in the studio and helps him record a demo. Charlie bumps into Kadee throughout his employment, slowly making enough of an impression on her that she starts following him. Meanwhile, Arthur receives notice of Androyd's rejection from the talent contest.
Kadee finally talks to Charlie outside of work and reveals that she writes her music, and Charlie takes Kadee into town and encourages her to sing. Wearing a thin but effective disguise, she performs one of her songs on the street and loves the experience. As thanks, she gives Charlie an invitation to Majesty Records' Masquerade Ball, where the company will announce the talent contest winner. Still, Arthur confiscates the invitation and uses it to take Androyd to the ball. With Diego and Martha's help, Charlie sneaks into the ball.
After dancing with Kadee in disguise, Charlie meets Shawn, the party DJ, who gives him a demo CD with the stage name "Rags" as a reminder of his humble origins. When the talent contest winner fails to appear at the ball as the planned musical act, Arthur seizes the opportunity to send Androyd up, but the crowd quickly boos them off. Shawn encourages Charlie to perform instead, and though hesitant, he agrees and steals the show but hurries out immediately after as he sees his stepfamily departing. On the way out, he kisses Kadee, telling her again to "Be you," and accidentally drops his CD.
Kadee, desperate to discover who Rags is, asks her father to help her find him, but he doesn't listen, thinking it wouldn't be a good business move. Unwilling to give up, Kadee tracks down Charlie at The Palace and asks him to help. Working up all of his nerves, Charlie attempts to confess his identity, but Kadee doesn't hear him, leading him to help with the search auditions; nobody else had listened to the second song on the CD, so whoever knew the lyrics was Rags. When Reginald confronts Kadee, she berates him for not listening to her. Charlie inadvertently eavesdrops and walks away with the mistaken impression that Kadee has no interest in him, only for Kadee to compliment him immediately after and end her relationship with Finn. Lloyd, who recognizes Charlie's performance from the design of his shoes, encourages Charlie to go after her and promises to keep his secret.
Andrew overhears the conversation, goes through Charlie's room, and steals his songbook, presenting it to Arthur. At the auditions, Reginald arrives and apologizes for ignoring Kadee, promising to be more receptive. Charlie also encourages Kadee, telling her again, "Be you," to her surprise. Andrew shows up to audition and leads Charlie to his father, who locks him in a closet so that Andrew can pose as Rags, leaving Lloyd as just a backup singer. Arthur also reveals he intends to sell The Palace. Though Charlie escapes with the help of Trumpet and Kadee's girlfriends, he arrives just in time to see Andrew shake hands with Reginald Worth.
Heartbroken, Charlie packs his things and plans to leave, but Kadee finds him and pleads with him to stay until she introduces Rags. To everyone's surprise, she calls up Charlie, having put together the pieces from him telling her to be herself. Ecstatic, Charlie begins to sing for the crowd but soon invites Kadee up to the stage and tells her to sing her songs, which she does with her father's encouragement. Upon hearing his daughter's true talent, Reginald is astounded and puts Kadee in charge of her career from that point on. Lloyd, fed up with his father and brother’s mistreatment, reveals that Charlie's mom left The Palace to Charlie, not Arthur, which adds to Charlie's day.
Charlie and Kadee start dating and appear on many magazine covers. The movie ends with them singing "Me And You Against The World" at The Palace, now owned by Charlie and still managed by Diego and Martha. Lloyd is a backup dancer, while Arthur and Andrew are made janitors as punishment for their actions towards Charlie.
Cast
Keke Palmer as Kadee Worth, a famous pop singer who befriends Charlie. She helps him with his dreams, and he helps her see what she really wants.
Max Schneider as Charlie Prince, a talented, young musician with the hopes of being famous.
Drake Bell as Shawn, a studio technician at Majesty Records who helps Charlie produce his demo CD that leads Kadee to Rags.
Avan Jogia as Finn, Kadee's rockstar ex-boyfriend.
Zak Santiago as Diego, a worker with Martha at Arthur's store and Charlie's father figure.
Christina Sicoli as Martha, a worker with Diego at Arthur's store and Charlie's mother figure.
Robert Moloney as Arthur McGowens, Charlie's horrible stepfather.
Burkely Duffield as Lloyd McGowens, Charlie's nicer stepbrother. He develops a crush on Kadee’s friend, Tammy, at Kadee’s masquerade party.
Keenan Tracey as Andrew McGowens, Charlie's spoiled and selfish stepbrother.
The film received 3.5 million viewers, however it earned 4.6 million total viewers (Live + 7 day), becoming one of Nickelodeon's highest rated original films.[4] The film shot to the top of the iTunes sales charts, debuting as the #1 musical on iTunes and remaining atop the charts for more than a month.[4]
Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media gave the film a rate of three stars out of five, saying a "sweet modern fairy tale shows off singing talents of stars."[6]
Home media
The film was released on DVD on August 28, 2012, together with Big Time Movie.[7]
Rags (Music from the Original Movie) is a soundtrack album by the film of the same name, released on May 22, 2012, by Nickelodeon Records. All the songs were produced by Darkchild and Andre Lindal. It includes nine songs featured by Keke Palmer and Max Schneider, with three bonus tracks.[9] It was released on May 22, 2012. The soundtrack peaked at number one on the iTunes soundtrack albums chart and number three on the Top 100 albums on iTunes chart.[10][11] "Me and You Against the World" was released as a promotional single on April 17, 2012.[12]
