Themes: Cinderella Stories, Fathers and Daughters, Americans Abroad
Main Cast: Amanda Bynes, Colin Firth, Kelly Preston, Eileen Atkins, Jonathan Pryce, Anna Chancellor
Release Year: 2003
Country: US
Run Time: 95 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
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 doting aide Alistair Payne (Jonathan Pryce). His no-nonsense fiancée, Glynnis (Anna Chancellor), and her bratty daughter, Clarissa (Christina Cole), are threatened by Daphne's presence, thinking that she will hurt Henry's political aspirations by causing a scandal. However, the family matriarch (Eileen Atkins) takes a liking to her and she soon finds herself trying to liven things up at several stuffy aristocratic parties. Meanwhile, the evil Glynnis and Clarissa conspire against her by trying to sabotage her appearance, leading up to the conclusion at Daphne's very own coming-out party. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Oliver James - Ian Wallace; Christina Cole - Clarissa Payne; Sylvia Syms - Princess Charlotte; Ben Scholfield - Armistead Stuart; Stephen W. Anderson - Television Reporter; Roger Ashton-Griffiths - Lord Orwood; Andrew Clarke - Male Twin 1; Judy Collins - Dancer; Peter Hugo - Prince Charles; Neville Phillips - Butler; Tara Summers - Noelle; Stanley Townsend - Bride's Father; Erik Von Detten; Victoria Wicks - Henry's Secretary; Chris Mulkey; Tom Harper; Antony Carrick - Prince Michael; Stephanie Lane - Fiona; Bruno Tonioli - Fashion Emcee; Peter Reeves - Sir John Dashwood; Count Prince Miller - Dancer; Bharti Patel - Dancer; Tony Kemp - Dancer; Daniel Tuite - Newspaper Reporter #1; Matt Acheson - Country Club Wedding Singer; Charlie Beall - Rufus; James Bell - Libby's Band Member; Newton Boothe - Taxi Driver; Natalie Bromley - Jane; Chris Castle - Prince Harry; Flaminia Cinque - Caterer; Peter Clarke - Male Twin 2; Ethel Crichlow - Dancer; Ash Croney - Dancer; Raffaello Dagruttola - Groom; Malcolm Davey - Dancer; Layla Ellison - Dancer; Tim Fornara - Ian's Band Member; Luke Fredericks - Ian's Band Member; Tom Goodfellow - Libby's Band Member; David Gyasi - Ian's Band Member; Tom Hanna - Ian's Band Member; Peter Jessup - Dancer; Jafri Jobaid - Dancer; Allan Laza - Dancer; James Linton - Political Advisor Two; Anne Lucas - Dancer; Sarah Mark - Newspaper Reporter #2; Soleil McGhee - Young Daphne; George Miller - Dancer; Susan Mills - Dancer; Nita Mistry - Girl in Hostel; Ella Desmond Oakley - Baby Daphne; Steven Osborne - Staff Member; Basil Patton - Dancer; Tom Penn - Libby's Band Member; Cassie Powney - Peach Orwood; Connie Powney - Pear Orwood; Vernon Preston - Duke of Edinburgh; Mindy Lee Raskin - Bride; Elizabeth Richard - Queen; Jonah Russell - Policeman; Louis Saint-Juste - Dancer; Barrington Shaw - Dancer; David Temple - Ian's Band Member; Sian Todd - Dancer; Mike Toller - Libby's Band Member; Matthew Turpin - Prince William; Jane Victory - Dancer; Pieter Vodden - Sven; Thomas Michael Voss - Dancer; Maureen Waters - Dancer; David Whitmey - Ian's Band Member; James Woolley - Political Advisor One; James Greene - Percy; June Walker - Dancer
Credit
Karen Wakefield - Art Director, Suzanne Crowley - Casting, Gilly Poole - Casting, Steve Harding - Co-producer, Shay Cunliffe - Costume Designer, Richard Styles - First Assistant Director, Michael Murray - First Assistant Director, Dennie Gordon - Director, Chuck McClelland - Editor, E.K. Gaylord II - Executive Producer, Casey La Scala - Executive Producer, Alison Greenspan - Executive Producer, Rupert Gregson Williams - Composer (Music Score), Debra Baum - Musical Direction/Supervision, Michael Carlin - Production Designer, Andrew Dunn - Cinematographer, Denise Di Novi - Producer, Hunt Lowry - Producer, Bill Gerber - Producer, Rebecca Alleway - Set Designer, Brian Simmons - Sound/Sound Designer, Colin Charles - Sound/Sound Designer, Elizabeth Chandler - Screenwriter, Jenny Bicks - Screenwriter, Matt Grime - Supervising Sound Editor, William Douglas Home - Play Author
Daphne Reynolds (Amanda Bynes) has what every girl wants —or so it seems. This young American girl has a unique style all her own, an unconventional but loving relationship with her Bohemian mother Libby (Kelly Preston) and a future full of possibilities. But despite her remarkable promise, Daphne feels incomplete.
She dreams of one day meeting the father she’s never known, the man Libby loved deeply seventeen years ago, but ultimately left behind because his aristocratic family found her unsuitable. Determined to live out her fantasy of forging a storybook relationship with her long-absent dad, Daphne, on an impulse, gets a flight to London, where she quickly discovers that her father is the high-profile politician Lord Henry Dashwood (Colin Firth). Henry opens his life and his social calendar to the daughter he never knew existed, but Daphne’s appearance in his high society creates an uproar that threatens to undermine his political career. Not wanting to jeopardize his campaign for an upcoming election, Daphne stifles her naturally vibrant personality, refashions herself as a proper debutante and plunges into a whirlwind of British social events. But even with Henry’s support, she’s not getting any help from his conniving fiancée or her jealous daughter, who are bent on ruining Daphne at every turn.
With the aid of Ian (Oliver James), a charming and society-savvy local musician, Daphne attempts to prove that love, along with proper etiquette, can conquer all. But Daphne soon realizes she doesn’t like the person she’s becoming in the process. As much as she wants to be her father’s daughter, she realizes it's not worth it if she can’t be herself. She goes back home but Henry realizes how much he loves Daphne and goes to find her. The film ends with Daphne's mother officially getting married to Daphne's father. Daphne also becomes Ian's girlfriend and she goes to college at Oxford so she can be near him. They move into Henry's house.
Cast
Amanda Bynes as Daphne Reynolds introduced later as Daphne Reynolds Dashwood
This film opened during war with Iraq which made Warner Bros. change the poster art for the film. Because the original artwork showed Amanda Bynes displaying a peace symbol, the artwork was changed so that the peace symbol was airbrushed out. The studio did not want anyone to think the artwork was a war protest.[citation needed] There had been no complaints to the studio, which some accused of censorship.
