What a Girl Wants

2003 "Trying to fit in. Born to stand out."
5.8| 1h45m| PG| en| More Info
Released: 27 March 2003 Released
Producted By: Warner Bros. Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Info

An American girl, Daphne, heads to Europe in search of the father she's never met. But instead of finding a British version of her bohemian mother, she learns the love of her mom's life is an uptight politician. The only problem now is that her long-lost dad is engaged to a fiercely territorial social climber with a daughter who makes Daphne's life miserable.

Genre

Drama, Comedy, Romance

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Director

Dennie Gordon

Production Companies

Warner Bros. Pictures

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What a Girl Wants Audience Reviews

Clevercell Very disappointing...
Chatverock Takes itself way too seriously
Actuakers One of my all time favorites.
StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
bigverybadtom Based on the play "The Reluctant Debutante", the story starts with the young son of a British noble family meeting a young American woman, on vacation in Morocco, and they have a marriage neither are sure is valid, but the British man's retinue locate them and make the woman leave, and she travels back to New York City, and gives birth to a daughter. 17 years later, the daughter learns of her heritage and impulsively flies to London and meets her father, now a member of Parliament, who had never known about his daughter until that moment.Then the real story begins. The father and the people with him are unsure what to do with the daughter, especially with the father running for reelection, he contacts her mother, who is angry with him because she was sent home and he never contacted her, and the daughter is confused about what she has done, and what she should do now, especially when she meets and falls in love with a young local man.The story might best be described as wish-fulfillment fantasy, but is pleasant enough without being too soppy or unrealistic. Good performances by the cast and good pacing help the movie, and while it has no deep meaning it is still good entertainment.
rajatshanu64 Nice Movie family movie and with happy ending well each movie have it's own happy ending not each actually some movie's end it about to begine it's next part but in some movie's end you will happy joyfull that's type of happy ending it exist here. in story a men who belong to royals family loved a woman they married but when they returns home a wicked men created some misunderstanding so woman goes for away but she is still pregnant after while she got a good daughter and she told her about her dad so the teenager girl to meet there royal father and trying to change it and in last dad got changed and in last they live together that's it.i just watched movie to know that what a girl wants but that is totally different why this name belong to it.
Python Hyena What a Girl Wants (2003): Dir: Dennie Gordon / Cast: Amanda Bynes, Colin Firth, Kelly Preston, Jonathan Pryce, Oliver James: Recycled teen family film about the importance of good adult role models. Amanda Bynes stars as a girl who longs to see her father who has been absent for seventeen years. She works as a caterer at a banquet her mother sings at. She tells of how her father got into British politics and how she was secretly sent away by his officials. What follows is pure formula as Bynes shows up to meet her father. He is bewildered and overwhelmed while his current fiancé and stepdaughter would prefer that she left. The main joke is that her lifestyle clashes with their culture. An improvement for director Dennie Gordon after making the pathetic The Adventures of Joe Dirt but it is not much of one. Bynes is an absolute delight and holds strong despite predictable developments. Colin Firth as her father is given a good back story before being subdued with standard material that concludes with him learning the truth. Flat supporting roles by Kelly Preston as Bynes's mother, and Jonathan Pryce as one of the corrupt officials. Oliver James plays her romantic interest and he has less personality than a plastic Ken doll. What a girls wants is what everyone needs, and in this case it would be to star in a film of much higher potential than this paper thin charade. Score: 3 ½ / 10
folsominc2 I have to say from all the movies that I have watched in the last few weeks with Colin Firth since I recently became enamored of his talent in the A&E production of "Pride and Prejudice," this movie is perhaps the best one that I have seen.It has all the elements of a good movie and Firth at his best. I love the characters and relationships and how they interact with each other. Daphne (Amanda Bynes) is perfect as the teenage daughter searching for the other half of her being and life and finding her father. Her cute little smile and perky American approach no matter what is happening to her portrays her "can do" attitude and determination in being herself.And I just have to say that this is Colin Firth in his element! He is fantastic as the Henry Dashwood character (hmmm . . . name seems Austen-ly familiar, don't it?) who suddenly finds out he is a father after 17 years. He is tender and sweet and unsure. Probably one of the best scenes ever in the film is during the "midnight snack" of Coco Pops in the kitchen where he learns that his wife didn't leave him for another man and had always been his even after all the years between. The emotions and thoughts rush over his face as if he is speaking them out loud and the viewer can see his internal struggle to remain calm with the overwhelming feeling of the bitterness he had experienced for all those years.There are so many perfect and good scenes in this movie with very little bloopers that it really can touch a viewer's heart. The areas especially with Henry and his daughter are extremely special.The last part of the film is symbolic when Henry Dashwood has a heart-to-heart with his mother, withdraws his candidacy, hits the man who had affected his life so extremely, and then walks into the bright sunlight with a deep breath. The viewer realizes that it is more than just being outside in the sunlight but that he finally came out of the dark after so many long years. He has finally found who he is and what he wants to do.Firth basically took my breath away. With the subsequent scene of him winning back his daughter and then his wife, the viewer has realized that this is one of those pictures that are forthrightly, just a deliciously good picture. This is one that makes you believe in old-fashioned love and fairy tales which seems to be so non-existent in today's film making industry.Firth has tremendous talent in saying something extremely vital by NOT saying something. Each scene where he was having discussions with Libby (Kelly Preston) either on the phone or in person, the viewer could read both characters thoughts and feelings and the amazing chemistry that existed after all that time apart.It was also better for the plot to have this international relationship struggle. If it had been in America – especially these days – the press would have made a big deal out of the girl's "native" upbringing but it probably would not have affected the father's political life.Everyone excelled in this movie and kudos to the director and screen writer for bringing such a sweet story to light.One last word is that no review of this movie can be complete without discussing the amazingly hilarious scene of Firth squeezing into his "old" black leather pants and t-shirt – and earring? – and dancing in front of a mirror. Each time that particular part plays, everyone bursts out laughing! He was just perfect! And lastly, Darcy was a gooder but Dashwood beat 'im hands down! Maybe it was because Dashwood can laugh at himself, sees the funny side of things, and chose to come into his own self-discovery of who and what he was and wanted to be.I still love Darcy but in this case, I'll take Dashwood!