What a Girl Wants

I was actually surprised by this movie. Yes, it was probably conceived by a marketing team. Yes, it isn't very original and yes, some of it is embarassingly obvious. That being said, I was very entertained by this movie. I thought it was well directed, and well acted. I wouldn't be surprised to see Amanda Bynes start taking on more serious roles in the future with great success. This movie does what it set out to do: entertain teenage girls. Anyone who is a fan of lighthearted tween comedies should check this movie out. It is better than most of the teenage girl movies out there and much better than that stupid Big Fat Greek Wedding movie. **1/2 out of ****

Dennie Gordon has directed this comedy with sure hand. The play by William Douglas-Home was a hit in the London stage and it was filmed before as The Reluctant Debutante with Rex Harrison, Kay Kendall, Sandra Dee, John Saxon and Angela Lansbury in the cast. This new take on the same story is fun basically because of the cast that was assembled to play the main characters.

Amanda Bynes has the right amount of charm to make her Daphne an endearing teen who is in search for a father she never knew. Colin Firth is a very good as the father. Kelly Preston has very little to do and it's a shame. Eileen Atkins, as the would be grandmother doesn't fare better, as it's the case with Jonathan Pryce.

I recently caught up with it on DVD format and all that can be said is that it was mildly amusing as a typical comedy of this genre.

I have read several reviews of this film, and I have to say that men just aren't going to "get" this one. Our local paper's reviewer said he just didn't get the "stars in the eyes" of the women leaving the theater. His review didn't even MENTION Colin Firth. Well, I will! Colin is what is going to attract women to this film, and he does not disappoint. He is the best thing about the movie. Amanda Bynes is cute, and I enjoyed her too. The rest of the cast is quite good too...Anna Chancellor (Caroline Bingley, for those Pride and Prejudice fans...), and Eileen Atkins, particularly. I found the storyline about the daughter longing for her father and the father who just discovered her quite sweet and moving. Yes, the script was a bit sloppy and the humor often falls flat, but overall, Colin Firth's performance made it worth seeing for me. This is definitely a chick flick, though :)

I saw the movie with my mid-teen sister who's exactly the target audience of this film. Now there are many films that are not for everybody, they do not excel in acting, directing, screenplay or effects to be called a 'good movie'. They are meant for certain part of the audience who, if it sticks to the specific formula, just love them. Now I wasn't meant to love "What a girl wants", but I guess, thinking from my point of view, it's a good diversion from me.

The script is above the level I was expecting and young Amanda Bynes acted quite well. Colin Firth seemed a little wooden. There are bits of little innocent humors in places that makes it a relief to watch. The shooting locations and the sets are fine. The soundtrack too is catchy. So even the storyline is very very shallow, one should not complain or analyze too much about such films.

I have noticed a genre that might be termed 'late-ish teens princess story' and until now I could not really like the ones that I have on disk.

So, if the genre was widened a bit to include Trachtenberg's Ice Princess then yes, and there will be many okay stories in such a wider genre. I consider the wider genre to be too relevant, best not maimed in this way. The traditional princess story is a very ancient genre and I prefer to link this sub genre to that.

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Then I obtained the two disk set of Mandy Moore's Chasing Liberty (2004) and Amanda Bynes' What A Girl Wants (2003) and this genre was suddenly different. Both of these stories stand tall. True, technically the word Princess does not fit here, but it is close enough, even though Amanda's character is only 39th in line to the throne and Mandy is only a USA style temporary princess?

That is all that I need to know about either story. These are stuff that I can really like.

More. What A Girl Wants breaks with tradition. Amanda is 16 playing a 17. Not a 20 playing an 18 or 15. Not an 18 playing a 15. So unusual.

Director commentary: Real princesses were used as extras at the Henley scene.

Detail to hope to ignore: The last of the scenes set in London. What sort of UK political party would display the flag in this way at a political meeting? This is made for an audience with USA type understandings, not UK? Unless this is a comment re UK politics? In England this is equivalent to Amanda's dad, Lord Dashwood, having been working to be elected to parliament as a member for a UK type K.K.K.? I personally consider UK politics to be askew but that does not feel like the right parallel, though it does hint at too far to the right.

With the possible exception of Hairspray, all the Amanda that I have, so far, end in disaster if I interpret them literally from the cues that I notice. That is likely just me, a private language sort of thing. For me, the most subtle is the ending of She's The Man and that is only a box of Gouda that has me wondering if that magnificent story really ends in disaster. I get that by considering a 1980's horror story called ET. For me, the ultimate Amanda scary ending is Love Wrecked.