SHINY and wholesome with a naughty side, that's Britney ... and that's her movie.

The American teenybop queen has made her big screen debut in Crossroads, a coming of age, girly, road trip film. And while her role as an 18-year-old, virginal, high achiever with a great voice, hardly calls on her to stretch herself much in the way of acting, she's not half bad.

Many chanteuse have found to their cost that making the jump from stage to screen isn't as easy as some, notably Cher, have made it look.

Mariah Carey was the latest to come a cropper with Glitter, which received an almost universal critical panning.

That movie was said to be semi-autobiographical, so just sticking to a character not a million miles removed from your own doesn't do the trick by itself.

And in fact Britney does such a good job, you sometimes almost forget it is Britney ... that is until the car radio comes on and gives her another chance to sing along.

The story is fairly basic, three estranged childhood pals meet up again at midnight on their high school graduation night to dig up a box containing their childhood wishes which they buried when they were 10.

It leads to a road trip in pursuit of their dreams, with Britney, as Miss Goody Two Shoes Lucy; Zoe Saldana as Kit the superficial prom queen, and Taryn Manning as Mimi, a trailer trash loser. Things don't run smoothly but the addition of love interest Ben (Anson Mount) helps.

There's a fair bit of singing which if you are a Britney fan you'll probably love and even if you are not isn't as annoying as it might be.

That goes for the whole film. Yes, it's schmaltzy and calls for some serious suspension of disbelief (Britney and pals appear to earn hundreds of dollars in tips for one karaoke rendition of I Love Rock and Roll) but what it lacks in plausibility (Britney as a nerdy swot!) it makes up in the feelgood factor department. And it doesn't shy away from tackling some pretty thorny issues. Although the film is only PG, mums and dads might want to note the subject of Britney loosing her virginity is pretty high on the agenda and one of her mates is pregnant as a consequence of a drunken rape.

Oh and yes guys, Britney does jump around in her underwear, a lot.

Rating: 7