What teenager hasn’t struggled to fit in or felt something was missing? But what if your mother told you of this fairytale life that was supposed to be yours, only your father doesn’t know you exist. What a Girl Wants, starring Amanda Bynes (Big Fat Liar) is Daphane Reynolds, the illegitimate (sorta) daughter of Lord Henry Dashwood (Colin Firth, Bridget Jones’s Diary) who goes looking for her father to find herself.

Daphane grew up in a walkup apartment in Chinatown, New York, with her mother, Libby (Kelly Preston, View From the Top). About 17 years ago Libby, a musician, went to discover herself and found British royalty (Henry) in Morocco and she married him. Well they had a ceremony of some sort, but the legality of it is questionable. So he took his new bride back to meet the folks. Well in any fairytale of this sort, they were not impressed and she was sent away. A few months later along came Daphane. Cut to the present and Libby (still a musician, but for weddings) and daughter Daphane are still alone. Daphane, confused about her future, sneaks off to London in search of daddy. What she discovers is Daddy is giving up his title to run for parliament and is currently engaged to the gold digging Glynnis (Anna Chancellor) who also has a teenage daughter, Clarissa.  This is where the real comedy begins. A girl that is questioning who she is really comes off very confident and self-assured. Daphane shines or makes lemon-aide out of every situation. She is a threat to Glynnis and Clarissa, but does not whine or ask anyone else for help in dealing with the wicked stepsister and evil stepmother. In fact she confronts Clarissa and lets her know Cinderella wins. I don’t really want to give away the action because the story itself has been done a million times in a million different ways so what makes this movie special is the action.

This Dennie Gordon (Joe Dirt) directed movie is based off a play called the Reluctant Debutante and was made into a screenplay by William Douglas Home. Since it is a fairytale story I wasn’t looking for a believable plot or something new to add, just an enjoyable movie. Also appearing in What a Girl Wants were Tom Harper, Jonathan Pryce, Eileen Atkins, Roger Ashton-Griffiths, Christina Cole, Raffaello Degruttola, David Dionisio, Oliver James, Chris Mulkey and Raymond Young. This movie was heartwarming, funny and entertaining throughout. Amanda was enchanting as Daphane. She broke my heart as the little girl longing to have that father-daughter dance and she was impressive as a confident young lady that didn’t rely on her father for anything. There were none of the typical “Bugger Off” comments we have come to know and love when the plot is set in London and certainly no nudity, although the Brits’ fondness for grabbing one’s ass is still present. This film will appeal to all females and fathers, but I am sure the remaining demographics will also enjoy What a Girl Wants. I give this movie a perfect 10 couches.

Last updated: Thursday, March 20, 2008 02:49:25 AM

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