What a Girl Wants (2003)

An American teenager learns that her father is a wealthy British politician running for office. Although she is eager to find him, she realizes it could cause a scandal and cost him the election.

Director:

Dennie Gordon

Writers:

William Douglas-Home (play), William Douglas-Home,

Stars:

Amanda Bynes, Colin Firth, Kelly Preston

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Amanda Bynes	...	Daphne Reynolds
Colin Firth	...	Henry Dashwood
Kelly Preston	...	Libby Reynolds
Eileen Atkins	...	Jocelyn Dashwood
Anna Chancellor	...	Glynnis Payne
Jonathan Pryce	...	Alistair Payne
Oliver James	...	Ian Wallace
Christina Cole	...	Clarissa Payne
Sylvia Syms	...	Princess Charlotte
Soleil McGhee	...	Young Daphne
Peter Reeves	...	Sir John Dashwood
James Greene	...	Percy
Steven Osborne	...	Staff Member
Mike Toller	...	Libby's Band Member
Tom Penn	...	Libby's Band Member

Storyline

Daphne, a seventeen-year-old girl from New York goes to England in search of her father, who does not know he had a child with an American girlfriend he met while working in Morocco, and whose aristocratic family did not approve of the woman.

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Plot Keywords:

american | england | scandal | morocco | british | 

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Taglines:

Trying to fit in. Born to stand out.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild language

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. [uk]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 April 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

American Girl

Filming Locations:

Battersea Park, Battersea, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$182,428 (Brazil) (19 September 2003)

Gross:

$401,212 (Brazil) (3 October 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, Gaylord Films, DiNovi Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kelly Preston and Oliver James did all of their singing in the movie.

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Goofs

When Henry, Glynnis, Clarissa, Alastair, Daphne, and Jocelyn are discussing where Daphne should stay, to avoid the scandal, Jocelyn turns slowly to the right to face Daphne. In the next shot, when she says "Oh, the girl must stay here", she is completely facing Daphne, with no true indication she had completely turned in the split second.

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Quotes

Peach Orwood: [nervous; with her sister, Pear] I'm Peach, she's Pear. You see, our mother was slightly obsessed with fruits. We have a sister named Parsnip... she doesn't get out much.

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Connections

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

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Soundtracks

"The Way You Look Tonight"
Written by Dorothy Fields and Jerome Kern
Produced by Brian Rawling and Robin Smith
Performed by Oliver James

User Reviews

What this girl likes

Okay, I love this movie. It's sweet, it's simple, it's cute, and fun. It's clever and well put together. The scenery is great (what's not to love about London)? And Firth and Bynes were adorable. Colin Firth is great no matter what movie he's in, but Amanda Bynes (I've been a fan of hers since she was on Nickelodeon) was fun to watch and a perfect fit for the role of fun-loving Daphne. The rest of the cast was good as well, I loved the jokes that were thrown in and the silly/cute subplots going on (Peach and Pear). I appreciated that this movie didn't take itself too seriously, yet was certainly not all fluff or nonsense, either. I loved how this movie primarily dealt with a father-daughter relationship (so refreshing from other so-called teen movies that often only deal with a teenage romance) and I also loved how the main character, Daphne, was not angry or angsty, she was refreshingly fun and optimistic. Overall this is a good, clean fun movie that can be appreciated by all ages and audiences.