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The Princess Diaries (Full Screen Edition)

The Princess Diaries (Full Screen Edition)

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Sweet but predictable, funny but boring for an 8 year old
Review: Anne Hathaway is delightful as the 15 year old Mia who discovers she is a princess. Her comic timing is excellent and she gives a freshness to a role that could otherwise have been very trying. The rest of the cast is very good, also, particularly the driver, Hector Elizondo and Mia's best friend, played by Heather Matarazzo. There are some fresh and funny lines and Hathaway's delivery in particular is superb.

However, even a fabulous cast can't overcome a boring, predictable plot. How many ugly duckling stories set in high school have there been? Are high school kids really that cruel, mean and vindictive all the time? And should we keep giving teenagers the idea that this kind of behavior is normal and acceptable? I was probably the least popular person in my high school, but no one was ever as mean to me as kids in the movies are to outcasts.

That aside, the time watching the movie was entertaining/pleasant enough for me. However my 8 year old, barbie-obsessed daughter, who is not hard to please, didn't like it. I recommend this for the middle-school/early high school set and that's about it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Princess Diaries, A Success
Review: I was one of the lucky people to catch an advance screening of The Princess Diaries last Saturday, the 28th of July, and I loved it. I totally fell in love with the story the first few seconds of the movie. Wonderful acting and wonderful everything else that I could give it. I will definately see it again and again. Laughter filled the whole theatre with endless comedy. I give The Princess Diaries 5 stars.

The Princess Diaries: Starring- Julie Andrews, Anne Hathaway, and Mandy Moore in theatres everywhere Friday, August 3rd, 2001

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Bad
Review: First of all, if you're a boy, don't even consider seeing this because it's so self centered around girls. This movie is about a social outcast who inevitably finds out that she is the princess of a European country called Genovia. She's also ugly and is made fun of, and as well has tangled hair and glasses.

When she finds out that she is in fact a princess, her mother gives the worst reason for not telling her before. Then she gets a makeover, and that's when the film gets (messed) up. The morals in this movie is so shallow, I would have thought I was watching Bridget Jones' Diary. But Modern Disney proves once again the beauty is on the outside, and taking off glasses cures all. Plus the movie's G and the dialogue feels uncomfortable since they're trying to skip around every bad word.

Another bad part in this movie is the majority of gender. In this movie the females have the dominating roles as the males are seen as lesser, smaller, and overall worse than the females. Some more bad morals to teach your kids, right? I have a feeling after seeing this movie, we're all gonna turn into lawyers.

The director also directed Pretty Woman and The Flamingo Kid. I liked Pretty Woman because it had a very harsh upcoming story, as well was witty, didn't try hard to appeal to kids, because it was R. This story on the other hand has no comedy to speak of. Except when she kept of breaking things and bumping in to things. I loved that part. Man, she's clumsy! And then when she bumped into things, the audince laughed, but when she kept doing it the audience didn't laugh anymore.

The only good actor is Julie Andrews of course why I gave this movie 2 stars and not 1 star. She was great in The Sound of Music, and her talent rubs off on this film, even though the role is too stiff for her anyway. Anne Hathaway is a bad actor and isn't very pretty. She has a huge mouth and huge eyes. She also is bad at slapstick comedy. But she also might become a successful actor later in life because there's time to improve.

All in all, I would see this if you're about 5 years old, because only the kids were laughing when Hathaway kept breaking stuff. The adults thought it was cute. So see it if you're 5 or if you have kids- and boys shouldn't see this.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Charming, Funny, Dazzling - - Absolutely wonderful!
Review: Julie Andrews is my favorite actress in the whole world so naturally I was thrilled to hear that she was starring in a new movie. When I saw the previews I wasn't sure what to expect, but after watching the Sneak Preview of the film (Jul. 28), I was dazzled! The film was sweet, charming, hilarious (I didn't stop laughing!)--to sum it up, absolutely wonderful. I didn't want the film to end! Anne Hathaway and the rest of the supporting cast including Hector Elizondo were brilliant as well. A must see!! Bravo!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: one worth seeing
Review: I recently saw this movie at a sneek preview. I really enjoyed it! It was pretty predictable, but it was fun to watch. Its perfect for a mom and daughter to go see together. I think it was worth my seven bucks!

-=alex=-

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: sweet pleasent awsome
Review: the princess diares is very sweet and romantic all the parts are funny like the part when she was tapping on the chanpane glass and a peiece fell of funny and the part where she was learning to sit and when she sat in the chair and fell hillarous ! and the part when she was playing soccer and hit the ball right infront of the boy's weanier that was the best funny part ever anyway this movie i'm gonna see till my dying days cause it's the best and yet second disney comedy in the whole world .

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A decent film for the whole family to see
Review: The Princess Diaries is a charming film about a 10th grader girl Mia living in San Francisco, whose life was turned upside down when her grandmother came for a visit. It turns out that the long estranged grandma is the queen of a small European country, and she came to ask Mia to claim the throne as the princess of Genovia.

A teenage version of Cinderella/Pretty Woman fairy tale, it's really quite sweet and funny. Unfortunately the characters are a bit shallow, but it probably won't be a big issue for the kids. Its wonderful to see Julie Andrews on the big screen again, and her performance as Queen Clarisse is convincing and regal. Anne Hathaway's portrayal of the outcast Mia is adequate, her character starts out believable as she struggles to choose whether to claim her right as the princess or to continue her life in San Francisco, but somewhere in the middle she quickly became superficial and at times immature. Hector Elizondo plays Joseph, the chief of security to the queen, a good supporting role with not enough screen time to develop the character more.

The plot for the Princess Diaries is easy for young kids to follow, and it touches on a lot of issues most high schoolers should be able to identify with. I did find the romances introduced in the movie to be rather unnecessary and often distracting, the time devoted to those scenes could've been better used to give more depths to the relationship between Clarisse, Mia and her mother Helen. Overall a good film to take the family to see, the humor should be enjoyable for children and adults alike.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Best Live Action Film For General Audiences!
Review: Normally, live action films get PG ratings. This got a G rating and I was expecting it to be very childish, but it's more for teens! The story is great and the acting is remarkable! It's about 15 year old Mina Thermopolis. She's one of the biggest "Freaks" at her school. She has a huge crush on the school jock who's girlfriend is the most popular in school (played by Mandy Moore). When her grandmother who Mia has never met tells her that she's the Princess of a small country in Europe and that she has to rule it, her world turns upside down. She has a complete makeover and now shes the most popular girl in school, the press is on her trail, and all she wants is to be "Invisible". If she dosen't accept her title, her rule will be handed over to stuck up snobs that don't care about anyone but themselves. It's amazing to watch Mia change so much. You'll love it no matter what age you are!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Has Anyone Here Read The Book?
Review: I have! ... Although the book is way better, I thought the movie was cute and worth seeing. after I read the book and found out the movie was rated G I thought "OhNo, It's going to be a little kid movie", but it turnes out that the movie can entertain all ages, even teens!! ... I think the movie is worth seeing, but befor you see the movie READ THE BOOK! ...

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A somewhat weak script, but most of the acting was good
Review: For a Disney film, I think this movie was about what I expected from them. Not a lot of conflict, with a happy ending at the end. I think, however, that the script could have been so much more than it really was. It seems to me that it was written with a lot of one-liners in mind. The character "Joe" has plenty of them. It also presented a number of serious themes without making them seem serious--which, I think, is unfortunate, because some of the film's messages were good ones that will be lost. This is mainly due to the fact that the film is not written from a serious standpoint. I don't expect a film to have any moral messages, but it seemed to me that this film was written with some in mind, mainly the ideas of standing up for yourself, the importance of seeing family for who they really are, and learning who your real friends are.

One part of the film that is revealed much later but shouldn't have been is the fact that, if Mia doesn't agree to becoming the crown princess, the country will be turned over to someone else. It's obvious in the film that this is what the Queen and Mia's mother discussed early on, but the viewer is not told what they must have talked about until much later in the film, and then it's not even stated directly. I got the feeling from the film that I was being "sheltered", like the events in the film were not of any big importance--but they are, because this is an entire country whose fate hangs in the balance until Mia makes up her mind, as well as Mia learning some lessons about responsibility. I think, at least, that people in the US tend to view royalty through rose-colored glasses, but here the writer at least took a stab at showing how much work it takes to run a country on your own. I also know for my part that much of my teen years were spent feeling like the way Mia feels in the very beginning of the film, but I was not given the opportunity to really connect with her character.

Most of the acting was good. I haven't seen Julie Andrews in anything since "The Sound of Music" and I had no trouble believing that she could be a queen. She does have a certain regal air in this movie, and a graceful way of moving even when she's trying not to be graceful. Mia's mother is also very good, as is the man who plays Joe, the limo driver, and Mia's friend Lilly. I also liked the school's vice-principal. (I didn't get the names of these actors and actresses, so I had to settle for naming their characters).

Anne Hathaway, however, could have been better. She was much more convincing when she was "being normal" as opposed to when she was being klutzy. I was unconvinced that she was an awkward teenager, and whenever a slang term came out of her mouth, it sounded completely stilted, like Mia was unused to speaking that way. In contrast, Lilly's delivery of those same slang terms was much more convincing and natural. As Mia goes through her princess training, the way she acts becomes much more natural. I think Anne Hathaway has the potential to be a good actress, however, but for this film her acting is actually something of a mixed bag.

I would say this film would be good for younger people. I don't think it was something I would have seen on my own, but I went with a friend who likes Disney films. I can honestly say that any parent that goes with their child will be entertained as well, but not to the same degree as their kids will be.


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