What with the war, and the ubiquitous sounds and sights of embedded reporters standing behind tanks or jeeps, or green tinted blurry images with flashes of bright light, we wanted to see something light, that would make us laugh. This film fit the bill. A totally different story compared to our last flick, The Quiet American, we had a great time, with a lot of laughs and heart warming moments.
It's a classic Cinderella-type story of a girl who's never had contact with her father, a fabulously wealthy Earl, in England. Every time she works as a waitress at a wedding, she cries when the father does the dance with the father.
At seventeen she runs off to meet her father. She sneaks onto his estate, meets him, and his snooty fiance. The story moves on to portray her being a silly, playful, open American teen let loose in a stiff, upper class world of royalty, while her father is running for a position in the house of commons.
There are no big surprises here, no deep human insights, observations or explorations. It's just a simple, happy story with plenty of sweet moments that touch the heart. Amanda Bynes, a regular on Nickleodeon for 11 years, since she was five, did a great job playing an older woman of seventeen.
The casting was superb, with the nasty stepmother and stepsister to-be doing a great job of getting you to hate them.
The music is excellent, particularly the singing of Oliver James, who plays Ian, the rocker boyfriend.
This is not a movie you go to if you are seeking mental stimulation, but for light, happy entertainment that repeatedly lifts and touches your heart and makes you laugh and smile, it's a winner.
By the way, I must confess, at 51, I was one of the oldest in the theatre.
