What a Girl Wants (PG) ★★

A fiery 17-year-old American girl travels to London to connect with the father she's never known--and, of course, have the adventure of a lifetime. God save the Queen!

Story

All Daphne Reynolds (Amanda Bynes) has ever really wanted is to meet the dad she's never known. Growing up in New York with her loving and free-spirited musician mother Libby (Kelly Preston), she makes her mom tell the story of her parents' whirlwind romance over and over. How much in love they were but how, unbeknownst to him, his aristocratic family drove Libby away. Now, at 17, Daphne is determined to live the fantasy of the father-daughter relationship she craves. Arriving in London, she finds out pop is Lord Henry Dashwood (Colin Firth), a high-profile politician who is about to marry the snooty Glynnis (Anna Chancellor). Needless to say, Henry is dumbfounded to discover he has a daughter and together with his regretful mother, Lady Jocelyn (Eileen Atkins), they open Dashwood manor to the spirited girl. As Daphne and Henry tentatively test their newfound relationship, the teen has a hard time fitting in with stuffy British high society and soon begins to jeopardize her father's political career. She tries to suppress her bubbly personality and turn herself into a respectable debutante, but Daphne soon realizes she's giving up too much of herself to be Henry's daughter. The question is, will Henry realize it is he who is not made for the suffocating life he's been shoved into, and reclaim his daughter and the only woman he has ever loved? Oh, stop, the suspense is killing us.

Acting

The 17-year-old Bynes is already a brand name in comedy--at least to the 'tween set who, from the time Bynes was 10 years old, have enjoyed her slapstick antics on Nickelodeon's variety show All That, her own variety show The Amanda Show and her current WB sitcom What I Like About You. Bynes is all grown up now and as the cute, sexy--and klutzy--Daphne, she excels at performing pratfalls and infuses as much charm as she can into the character. It is clear, however, the young comedian has some work to do before becoming a good actress. Thank goodness she is surrounded by talented actors such as Atkins (Gosford Park) and even Preston, who does a nice job as the bohemian Libby. Yet, it's Firth (Bridget Jones's Diary) who truly elevates the film when on-screen and helps Bynes reach those dramatic highpoints. He has the uncanny ability to turn even the most insipid of parts into something worth watching. His best moment as Henry is when he tries on some old leather pants and dances around in his opulent bedroom, pretending to be a rock star. It's very un-British of him--and it's brilliant.

Direction

To put it mildly, What a Girl Wants really looks bad. TV director Dennie Gordon obviously hasn't mastered the art of filmmaking in any way because not only are many of the shots blurry and poorly lit, often times it seems Bynes is shot through an entirely different, softer lens than the other actors. Usually, that kind of treatment is given to older actresses who want to hide all the little imperfections but for a 17-year-old cutie? Obviously it's a mistake. As well, the sugar-pop theme gets out of hand, trying way too hard to appeal to the hip and cool 'tweeners. To a rockin' soundtrack, look how Daphne can turn a pretentious coming-out ball into a choreographed dance number! Or see how she can try on different '70s outfits and funky glasses while her father amusedly looks on! (Even Firth looks uncomfortable). Sure, 11-14-year-old girls are going to love it, especially the sweet love story between Daphne and a local London musician Ian (Oliver James). It's only the heart of the story--the father-daughter relationship--that keeps the film from falling into just another Teen Beat tableau.

Bottom Line

What a Girl Wants may make you reminisce about your own father-child relationship. It's just sitting through the rest of the teenage girlie stuff that is a little hard to take.