What a Girl Wants

Bynes plays Daphne, an American teenager who has lived for 17 years without ever meeting her father. She finally makes her way to London to meet her dad, only to discover that he is Henry Dashwood (the always likeable Colin Firth), a rich, elite politician running for Prime Minister. Henry takes a liking to her almost right away, but the rest of his family - including his fiancée and her daughter - are British snobs that would rather just see her wiped under the rug. As the election kicks into high gear, Daphne realizes that her American casualness clashes with everything the British hold dear, because, as you know, modern day Americans and Brits are so much different (note sarcasm). The question is: should she remain who she is or change to fit the picture? Oh, and throw in a love interest in the form of Oliver James, who plays Ian, a young musician who somehow is able to snag all of the big royalty events. Go figure.

What a Girl Wants is nothing special, as it has an incredibly predictable plot, standard characters (evil step-sister, bitchy step mom and a nice father that is seemingly oblivious to their qualities until the very end) and a cliché, Cinderella ending (and you thought it wouldn''t!). Nevertheless, it is a cute little film that will appeal mainly to its target audience, younger teen girls. Bynes dresses up in lots of different outfits, and I admit that she looks quite nice, even if she is younger than my brother, and gets to go through the fantasy that lots of little girls have - that is, learning that you are the daughter of a ridiculously rich parent and essentially royalty.