An uneventful story line, some clunky direction and a series of unimaginative dance sequences will probably sink Fox's attempt to cash in on the popularity of the original "American Idol" stars at the boxoffice. But home video prospects look brighter for "From Justin to Kelly," which Fox opened wide Friday.

Teenage fans of chart-topping winner Kelly Clarkson and runner-up Justin Guarini will probably snap up the chance to own a piece of the stars they helped to create. What's more, the prospect of a screen kiss between the singers will certainly snag the attention of young girls.

"From Justin to Kelly" is a deodorized beach romance that plays the unpretentious personalities of Clarkson and Guarini to the hilt. To capitalize on the marketability of their real-life popularity, the characters even bear their first names. Geared solidly to an audience of teenage girls, the film attempts to answer the age-old philosophical question: "To be or not to be ... a party girl."

Clarkson plays Kelly, a homely Texan who's dragged off to Miami for spring break by two friends, the catty Alexa (Katherine Bailess) and the thoughtful Kaya (Anika Noni Rose).

Down at the beach, Justin is trying to make some holiday money by arranging whipped-cream bikini contests and margarita parties with his girl-mad buddy Brandon (Greg Siff) and their nerdy roommate Eddie (Brian Dietzen).

Romance blossoms between Kelly and Justin, but before the affair can take off, she has to prove she's not a flirt, and he has to prove he's not a beach Casanova.

Things are complicated by Kelly's buddy Alexa, who's got the hots for Justin so bad she wants to kill the romance stone dead. Action is interspersed with some "Grease"-style numbers in which the characters sing their feelings to each other, some choreographed dances on the beach and a lot of chats about the pitfalls of dating.

Clarkson acts OK and has a smattering of screen presence, which just about makes the whole thing bearable. Guarini fares less well and fails to project much more than the minimum needed to get through each scene. The producers have correctly realized that neither star possesses the power to carry the whole movie, so they use the supporting characters for numerous subplots. These fill time and divert attention.

Considering the television series was based on a search for performing excellence, the dance choreography by Travis Payne is surprisingly dull. Dance scenes simply consist of the leads leaping around on a crowded beach with formation dancers, occasionally cut with people jumping into swimming pools and the like. There's no focal point to these scenes, and some static camerawork doesn't exactly liven them up.

Still, little of this will bear much relevance to the movie's audience of teenage girls, who will lap up the songs -- many of which are sung by Clarkson and Guarini -- and swoon over the onscreen romance between the singers.

"American Idol" head honcho Simon Fuller takes exec producer credit, and his company 19 Entertainment produced. Fuller's brother Kim -- who wrote the equally forgettable film "Spice World" -- takes screenwriting credit.