What a Girl Wants (Widescreen Edition) (Snap Case)
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Actor: Amanda Bynes, Anna Chancellor, Colin Firth, Eileen Atkins, Kelly PrestonBrand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 105 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-08-05
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Reviews of What a Girl Wants (Widescreen Edition) (Snap Case)
DVD Review: Amanda Bynes gives them Brit stuffed shirts what fer
Summary: 4 Stars
When it comes to this film, I am so utterly in the wrong demographics that I feel quite silly putting in my two cents' worth - but here it is, anyway. Sometimes you flip thru channels and stumble on a movie that you somehow end up seeing all the way thru. So, for me and WHAT A GIRL WANTS. Young Amanda Bynes has never really registered on my radar before, but it's hard not to get in her corner when you see her perky self go to work.
Seems like nothing is original anymore. WHAT A GIRL WANTS has drawn comparisons to The Princess Diaries (2-Disc Collectors Set), but apparently its roots go back further, to a 1958 comedy film THE RELUCTANT DEBUTANTE starring Rex Harrison and Sandra Dee, which in turn was adapted from a 1956 play of the same name by some cat named William Douglas Home. Cinderella, of course, is the grandmama of inspirations for movies like this.
WHAT A GIRL WANTS is fluff fluffity fluff, but enjoyable and the sort of lighthearted, lightweight teen chick flick which the young girl audiences (and I guess, me) gobble up like M&Ms. There's even a touch of that girl-empowerment thing going on. But if you say you can't guess how the plot will play out, then pardon me but my bullcrap detector just exploded. The set-up goes like this: 17 years ago, a young British noble (Colin Firth) and a gorgeous, free-spirited American girl (Kelly Preston) meet and fall in love in Morocco and get married in a bedouin wedding ceremony. He takes her to his posh estates in England, only to have disapproving forces scheme to separate the two. She leaves in tears, he lets her leave. He doesn't know she's pregnant.
Amanda Bynes plays New York teenager Daphne Reynolds who runs away from her single parent mother to seek out her Englishman dad in London. To catch us up, Daphne's father is now Lord Henry Dashwood, currently engaged to be married and a popular candidate in the upcoming elections (and he still doesn't know he has a daughter). So, as you may guess, Daphne's unexpected arrival introduces a wrench in the works, a fly in the ointment, a fart in the wind. Bring on the belles and balls and the anticipated father-daughter culture clash, as the rest of the movie tells of how plucky and sweet collide with repressed and snooty.
What's a story like this, though, without a wicked social-climbing stepmummy or a conniving step-sister? There's even a dashing young Jack-of-all-trades to lend a hand to Daphne, as well as a kindly British grandmum who we sense from the start would have Daphne's back and who ends up with film's best line (that one about hugs). But the real connection is between Amanda Bynes and Colin Firth's daughter and dad characters. It's quite fun watching Daphne gradually begin to have an effect on her stiff upper-lipped father and seeing this portrait of restraint and decorum loosen up by inches. The film's high point for me may well be that scene with Lord Dashwood in tight leather pants playing air guitar in front of the mirror.
Bonus features? The DVD offers the following: two sets of audio commentary, one by the film director and the screenwriters, the other by Amanda Bynes (for those preferring a more, like, youthful testimonial); "Fashion and Etiquette 101" - the film's costume designer Shay Cunliffe goes over the cast's wardrobe and etiquette instructor Maggie O'Farrill nags about the proprieties; "What's A Girl To Wear?" - a game requiring a good memory for Daphne's outfits (as a guy, I refuse to play this); 3 additonal scenes (totalling 1 minute 39 seconds); the theatrical trailer; and the film cast & crew credits.
WHAT A GIRL WANTS pushes all the right feel-good buttons and rides on the talent and credibility of the cast. Amada Bynes demonstrates an unaffected, likeable quality, nicely balancing her goofy exuberance with pratfalls and even a dash of romance. With her, the stodgy Brits never really had a chance. Equally key is Colin Firth, pitch perfect as the impeccable, uncomfortable Lord Dashwood, who as the film progresses regains that inner cool he had back in his youth, when he listened to rock 'n roll and sported a more hip wardrobe. Firth manages to pull off being simultaneously reserved yet charming. Again. Having seen Pride and Prejudice - The Special Edition (A&E, 1996) and Love Actually (Widescreen Edition), I shouldn't be surprised. Kelly Preston is good as Libby, Daphne's beautiful Bohemian mom who raises Daphne to be carefree yet grounded; You could see why even after all these years Lord Dashwood still thinks of her. Libby is a wedding singer, which gives Preston a chance to actually sing the songs. She's not bad.
Sappy last paragraph: This film may be tailored for the youngsters, but it doesn't necessarily snub the old fogies. When I told a buddy of mine that I'd seen this movie and liked it, he dismissed the film as fluff fluffity fluff. Obviously, I disagree. There's always a place for charming teen comedy flicks, not only in the hearts of young whippersnappers, but also in the wrinkled cockles of the decrepit. In its predictability and retelling of that same old message (be true to yourself), it doesn't insult our intelligence as much as reaffirm certain values. So I take back what I said about not being in this film's target demographics. With me, the film is apparently spot on.
Description of What a Girl Wants (Widescreen Edition) (Snap Case)
AN AMERICAN TEENAGER IS IN STUFFY HIGH SOCIETY LONDON SEARCHING FOR HER FATHER, A BRITISH POLITICIAN. AS SHE ATTEMPTS TO PROVETHAT LOVE CAN CONQUER ALL, HER IMPULSIVE BEHAVIOR CREATES ANUPROAR IN HIGH SOCIETY, WHERE HER UNIQUE STYLE THREATENS TO UNDERMINE THE RELATIONSHIP SHE'S WAITED HER LIFE TO EXPERIENCE.Bestsellers in DVD
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