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

Jonathan Pryce (Alistair Payne) and Roger Ashton-Griffiths (Lord Orwood) would both later go on to star on the television series Game Of Thrones. Playing the High Septon and Lord Mace Tyrell respectively.

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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

Henry Dashwood: You like Co-co Puffs?
Daphne Reynolds: It's chocolate! Need I say more?

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Connections

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

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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

A fun kid film

I was expecting a really bad, boring teen film like the Lizzie Mcguire movie, but this movie was entertaining. It's about a girl in America, Daphne, who goes to England to see her dad for the first time. He's a Lord, who is running for political elections, so of course, his handlers don't want any bad publicity. He takes a liking to her, but his finance and snooty soon-to-be stepdaughter don't like her. Daphne turns out to be a hit with the poparazi and has a lot of fun. After going to so many fancy parties, she starts to forget who she really is, but her new guy makes her realize where her true values lie. Along the way Lord Dashwood sees he's missing out on adventure and his true love, Daphne's mom. Will he give up the political dream to become an adventurer again? Watch to find out, but since this is a light-hearted film, you probably know the answer. There are some funny scenes throughout. And I liked the music.

FINAL VERDICT: An entertaining clean, fun film that all ages can enjoy.