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:
Kelly Preston	...	Libby Reynolds
Soleil McGhee	...	Young Daphne
Colin Firth	...	Henry Dashwood
Eileen Atkins	...	Jocelyn Dashwood
Jonathan Pryce	...	Alistair Payne
Peter Reeves	...	Sir John Dashwood
James Greene	...	Percy
Amanda Bynes	...	Daphne Reynolds
Steven Osborne	...	Staff Member
Mike Toller	...	Libby's Band Member
Tom Penn	...	Libby's Band Member
Tom Goodfellow	...	Libby's Band Member
James Bell	...	Libby's Band Member
Mindy Lee Raskin	...	Bride
Stanley Townsend	...	Bride's Father

Storyline

Loosely based on The Reluctant Debutante (1958) starring Sandra Dee, this family-friendly comedy features popular Nickelodeon teen star Amanda Bynes in her first feature-starring performance after her debut in Big Fat Liar (2002). She plays teenager Daphne Reynolds, who lives in New York City with her musician mother, Libby Reynolds (Kelly Preston). After she turns seventeen, 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 Wallace (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 ...

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Plot Keywords:

queen elizabeth ii character | gender in title | american | england | politician | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Lord Henry Dashwood (Colin Firth) is looking through the photo album of Daphne Reynolds' (Amanda Bynes') childhood, there are actual pictures of Bynes when she was younger.

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Goofs

Every time Daphne leaves the booth she tries on clothes in, she never had the clothes she took off though she pays for the ones she has on.

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Quotes

Daphne Reynolds: Every year I would wish if that I was good enough you would come and find me.

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Connections

References Snoopy Come Home (1972)

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Soundtracks

Muddled
Written by Ian LeFeuvre
Performed by Ian LeFeuvre

User Reviews

What a girl wants to watch

I was actually surprised by this movie. Yes, it was probably conceived by a marketing team. Yes, it isn't very original and yes, some of it is embarassingly obvious. That being said, I was very entertained by this movie. I thought it was well directed, and well acted. I wouldn't be surprised to see Amanda Bynes start taking on more serious roles in the future with great success. This movie does what it set out to do: entertain teenage girls. Anyone who is a fan of lighthearted tween comedies should check this movie out. It is better than most of the teenage girl movies out there and much better than that stupid Big Fat Greek Wedding movie. **1/2 out of ****

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Warner Bros.

Country:

USA UK

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:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$11,434,964, 6 April 2003

Gross USA:

$36,105,433

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$50,732,139

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