What a Girl Wants

SYNOPSIS

Based on a play by William Douglas Home and previously filmed as The Reluctant Debutante in 1958, with Sandra Dee and Rex Harrison, this lightweight comedy is resolutely old-fashioned but will no doubt delight the pre-teen market for which it was designed. This modern-day Cinderella tale begins with 17-year-old Daphne Reynolds (Amanda Bynes), the love child of an American mother (Kelly Preston) and titled Brit Henry Dashwood (Colin Firth), leaving her home in New York's Chinatown to go in search of her long-lost father. She walks straight into the stiff-upper-lipped arena of the British establishment, where uptight Dashwood is about to give up his title to stand for the House of Commons. After the usual fish-out-of-water calamities, Dashwood and Daphne follow the guidance of all the best father-and-daughter fantasies, and learn to like as well as love each other. Director Dennie Gordon's film has the odd moment of wit and there is some classy talent among the cast, but otherwise this is another example of Hollywood's stereotypical portrayal of the British.