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What a Girl Wants

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Remake of:

The Reluctant Debutante

Original title

What a Girl Wants

Year

2003

Running time

100 min.

Country

United States

Director

Dennie Gordon

Screenwriter

Elizabeth Chandler, Jenny Bicks. Story: William Douglas Home

Cast

Music

Rupert Gregson-Williams

Cinematography

Andrew Dunn

Producer

Warner Bros., Gaylord Films

Genre

Comedy. Drama. Romance | Teen/coming-of-age. Remake. Family Relationships

Synopsis

Daphne Reynolds (AMANDA BYNES) has what every girl wants – or so it seems. This spirited young American girl has a unique style all her own, an unconventional but loving relationship with her bohemian mother Libby (KELLY PRESTON) and a future full of possibilities – but despite her remarkable promise, Daphne feels incomplete. She dreams of one day meeting the father she’s never known, the man Libby shared a whirlwind romance with seventeen years ago, but ultimately left behind because his aristocratic family found her unsuitable.
Determined to live out her fantasy of forging a storybook relationship with her long-absent dad, Daphne impulsively hops a flight to London, where she quickly discovers that her father is high profile politician Lord Henry Dashwood (COLIN FIRTH).
When Henry opens his life and his social calendar to the daughter he never knew existed, Daphne’s appearance in high society creates an uproar that threatens to undermine his political career. Not wanting to jeopardize his campaign for an upcoming election, Daphne stifles her naturally vibrant personality, refashions herself as a proper debutante and plunges into a whirlwind of stuffy British social events. But even with Henry’s support, she’s not getting any help from his conniving fiancée (ANNA CHANCELLOR) or her jealous daughter (CHRISTINA COLE), who are bent on ruining Daphne at every turn.

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Critics' reviews

"In her sassy but scrubbed way, Bynes is a real charmer, and What a Girl Wants is a likable throwaway."

Owen Gleiberman: Entertainment Weekly
"There's nothing wrong with fairy tales, but they don't have to be formulaic. A movie like this would have benefited from a blending of the fanciful and the inventive"

Claudia Puig: USA Today
"Strictly for budding young ladies, though it does offer those who've already bloomed the grown-up pleasures of Firth"

LA Weekly
"It's a tame, hypocritical fantasy."

Scott Tobias: AV Club
"Pleasant bubblegum romp, which was inspired by the old Sandra Dee picture The Reluctant Debutante."

J.R. Jones: Chicago Reader
"It's not that What a Girl Wants is dreadful; it's merely slapdash, wildly inconsistent in tone and style, and mind-numbingly predictable"

Janice Page: Boston Globe
"The movie is clearly intended for girls between the ages of 9 and 15, and for the more civilized of their brothers, and isn't of much use to anyone else"

Roger Ebert: Chicago Sun-Times
"Instantly forgettable but good-natured all the same"

Kimberley Jones: Austin Chronicle

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Ranking Lists Position

55 My Favorite Teen Movies (23)

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What a Girl Wants

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