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

Loosely based on the 1958 comedy The Reluctant Debutante starring Sandra Dee, the family-friendly comedy What a Girl Wants features popular Nickelodeon teen star Amanda Bynes in her first feature-starring performance after her debut in Big Fat Liar. She plays teenager Daphne Reynolds, who lives in New York City with her musician mother, Libby (Kelly Preston). After she turns 17, Daphne is undecided about her future, so she takes off by herself to London in search of her father. She immediately meets cute musician Ian (Oliver James) before sneaking in to her father's estate to surprise him. He turns out to be Lord Henry Dashwood (Colin Firth), a fabulously wealthy aristocrat who doesn't even know that she exists. He had met her mother in Morocco and the two were married in a tribal ceremony. Upon their return to England, she left him and went back to the U.S. without ever revealing that she was pregnant. The uptight Henry is already flustered by his campaign for election, advised by ...

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Plot Keywords:

queen elizabeth ii character | father | american | england | daughter | 

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Taglines:

Trying to fit in. Born to stand out.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Family | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Warner Bros.

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 April 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

American Girl

Filming Locations:

Globe Tavern, 8 Bedale Street, The Borough, London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,434,964, 6 April 2003, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$35,990,505, 15 June 2003

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$14,622,111, 6 November 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:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Henry calls Libby to tell her Daphne has been out all day with a boy in a band (Ian), Libby says, "Lemme guess, he's a drummer?" In reality, Oliver James, who plays Ian, is a drummer. This could also be a reference to the movie 'The Reluctant Debutante' that this movie is based on. The character Ian is based on, David Parkson (John Saxon) is a drummer.

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Goofs

When Ian collects Daphne from Uni on his motorcycle at the end neither are wearing helmets, this is an offence in Britain.

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Quotes

Glynnis Payne: [Takes a bite of her eggs] These eggs are positively glacial. When I run this house, senile servants will be the first thing to go.
Clarissa: You'd have to get around the old bat somehow. She'd never allow it.
Jocelyn Dashwood: [Enters the room] Anyone seen my pruning shears? The *old bat* seems to have forgotten where she put them.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Father and Daughter Movies (2014)

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Soundtracks

Get up offa That Thing / Release the Pressure
Written by Deanna Brown, Yamma Brown, and Deirdre Brown
Produced by Brian Rawling and Robin Smith
Performed by Oliver James

User Reviews

Satisfies the target audience.

I saw the movie with my mid-teen sister who's exactly the target audience of this film. Now there are many films that are not for everybody, they do not excel in acting, directing, screenplay or effects to be called a 'good movie'. They are meant for certain part of the audience who, if it sticks to the specific formula, just love them. Now I wasn't meant to love "What a girl wants", but I guess, thinking from my point of view, it's a good diversion from me.

The script is above the level I was expecting and young Amanda Bynes acted quite well. Colin Firth seemed a little wooden. There are bits of little innocent humors in places that makes it a relief to watch. The shooting locations and the sets are fine. The soundtrack too is catchy. So even the storyline is very very shallow, one should not complain or analyze too much about such films.