What a Girl Wants

Ignoring the advice of bohemian mom Libby (Preston), hip young Daphne (Bynes) ups sticks from Chinatown, NYC, and arrives in rainy ol' London determined to track down Henry Dashwood (Firth), the father she's never known owing to a mix-up. No sooner has she completed a crash course in rhyming slang and found a boyfriend than she's discovering that dad, a former biker boy, is a stinking rich Lord and aspiring MP. Constitutional objection overruled, what's more of a problem is his scheming fiancée (Chancellor) and her toffee-nosed daughter, whose sartorially challenged feathers are ruffled when Daphne and a worried Libby show up at the stately pile. In case you're still interested, this Cinderella story is based on William Douglas Home's play The Reluctant Debutante, and it's not nearly as bad as 2001's The Princess Diaries. Which, admittedly, isn't saying much. But Gordon's paltry offering is hard to dislike. For one thing, there's real mischief underlying the deployment of sexless English caricatures fawning over the Royals at society balls. For another, there's Firth, whose repressed aristo schtick remains carefully restrained, investing even the sappiest of developments with conviction and sympathy.