The Princess Diaries
Reviewed by: Douglas Downs
STAFF WRITER
| Moral Rating: | Average |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
|
| Primary Audience: | • Teens • Adults |
| Genre: | Romance Comedy |
| Length: | 1 hr. 51 min. |
| Year of Release: | 2001 |
| USA Release: |
August 3, 2001 (wide) |
| Featuring | Anne Hathaway, Julie Andrews, Hector Elizondo, Heather Matarazzo, Caroline Goodall |
| Director |
Garry Marshall |
| Producer | Whitney Houston, Debra Martin Chase, Mario Iscovich |
| Distributor |
Once upon a time, there were clean movies that the entire family could enjoy. The parents and grandparents could round up the kids and head off to the local cinema for a fun afternoon of entertainment. That is the almost unbelievable tale that we tell this generation.
This is not the case today. We now must check the water for sharks and other dangerous predators. The movie industry today has divided families in many ways. We now have very few films for children, films (supposedly) made for teens, and the preconceived belief that adults need R-rated entertainment. How did we ever end up there? Where are those happy days?
Director Garry Marshall (“Pretty Woman”, “Runaway Bride”) is trying to remember. He is now a grandfather and wanted to make a film that his grandchildren could enjoy. I suppose that we could hope for more directors (who are grandparents) to follow suit. Mr. Marshall took old scripts of the classic TV series “Happy Days” and rubbed it on his face (that will work). He also filmed much of the movie on the same sound stage that they used for “Mary Poppins”. To try and make this blend of Hollywood magic complete, he cast Julie Andrews in the part of a queen and Hector Elizondo (who has been cast in every Marshall film) as the queen’s right hand man and limo driver, Joe.
“The Princess Diaries” is formulated straight from the standard Disney play-book. They even introduced the film with a sort of Hall of Fame clip recounting their past princesses. Disney, of course, takes credit for giving us the first princess in the character of Snow White. My only caution at this point is that we do not nurture a Cinderella mentality with our children. We should not lead them to believe that a certain person has the key to their happiness. This counselor sees many on that endless search. They believe the key is hidden somewhere, out there. Trust me, God is not that unfair. He longs to guide us into life-long fulfilling relationships. I know I am thankful for my more than 24 years of marriage.
That being said, “The Princess Diaries” is more like “My Fair Lady” meets “Anastasia”. Yes, the plot is your typical story with some of the usual sugarcoating. Garry Marshall does do a wonderful job with the material. It is sort of like joke telling. We enjoy a good joke teller even if we have heard the joke several times before. This time the story is about 15 year old Mia Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway, TV’s “Get Real”). Mia is convinced that she is invisible. Her appearance is unkept; she is lousy at sports, and fearful of public speaking. Mia embodies many of the typical feelings that teen girls struggle with in a glamour-driven culture. Mia lives with her artist mother (Caroline Goodall). Her mother is divorced and her father died in an accident. This part of the story is rather thin, but script is focused on Mia becoming a princess and not on her relationship with her mother. Together they live in an abandoned fire station.
Our ugly duckling is invited to have tea with a visiting grandmother. She is the mother of her late father and the two have never met. Mia discovers at this meeting that her grandmother, Clarisse Renaldi, is the Queen of a small European country known as Genovia. The queen reveals to Mia that she is the last living blood heir to the throne. This information begins to turn our teen’s world upside down. She must now choose between the clutsy and geeky life she now lives or accept royalty. Her decision also will affect the political outcome of that tiny country.
We get to view her life in high school. We get to meet her friends Lilly Moscovitz (Heather Matarazzo) and her brother (who has a crush on Mia). We encounter Josh Bryan (Disney’s current popular teen hunk, Erik von Detten). He is the one that Mia dreams of sharing her first romantic kiss with. No plot would be complete without the school teasers, which are led by cheerleader Lana (singer Mandy Moore). Her adversaries are the usual shallow and stereotypical characters.
I liked most of the film. The comedy was cute, fresh, and overall funny. Anne Hathaway does a great job playing off of the strengths of the seasoned actors around her. She even got to use her own pet cat in the film. “The Princess Diaries” is a fairly safe G-rated ride, with a few curves in the film. Garry is, after all, trying to be “all things to all people”. It wouldn’t hurt if teens would buy into his charm. I like stories that show the struggle to “just be yourself”.
Younger children may find a film about high school life boring. The soundtrack includes most of the ZOOG-Disney favorite music stars.
It was quite obvious that the age group of approx. 11-14 were getting the most enjoyment from the film. My 13-year old niece really liked it as well as myself (but I like teeny-bopper movies). Another teen about the same age was talking on her cell phone *giggle* commenting that the movie was good to one of her friends. So, it seems to be a hit with that age group which is really great!
I thought the acting was very good, particularly from Julie Andrews. It was thoroughly amusing and entertaining with a bit of romance thrown in. I also liked that Michael, the nice boy who is the major love interest, liked Mia, BEFORE she had the make-over job, so he liked her for what was inside. So, it was less superficial in that way which made a good impression with me.
Michael’s hair looked a cross between the Beatles and The Osmonds. Does this mean that the 60’s-70’s hair-do is back? (smile) I was informed that it is referred to as “a shag” nowadays. Memories! :-)
Oh, I forgot to mention that my niece who is almost 7 enjoyed the movie as well, but it was not as interesting for her as my older niece. My adult sister who accompanied us enjoyed it as well. My 2-year old nephew enjoyed parts of it, but fell asleep! A great movie for pre-teens, teens and adults who are young at heart!
[Good / 3½]
[Excellent! / 4]
The main complaints I’ve heard (and only at this site, mind you) are (1) The girl going from ugly duckling to glamor girl in a film supposed to be about inner beauty and (2) the G-rating being pushed. I disagree. The movie is not just about awkward people are pretty too, but about how shallow people can be.
When Mia is beautiful to look at, she is popular, but it is not a good and awesome thing for her. I believe that message is not shown enough and I applaud it here.
As far as questionable scenes—where? Even though the site and write-in reviewers refer to there being some verging on inappropriate scenes, they fail to give specifics. Do they mean when she is kissed in a beach shed by a guy who is using her for his owe 15 min of fame and she is not at all happy about it, or when 3 cheerleaders let the press photograph her in a towel (a large and very covering towel, I might add) to embarass her—again showing popularity is not any better than invisibility. I hope not, because these are scenes that end up showing Mia’a strength.
This film is great and is enjoyable for all ages. Parents and Grandparents can have a great time with the children in their lives and the movie even open doors for intelligent, important topics all too ignored by most of Hollywood today.
[Excellent! / 4]
One caveat: Many of the young castmembers tend to “overact” and much of the language is exaggerated, although I suspect they will improve with time. I highly recommend this movie for just about everyone, but especially families and young teens. Absolutely lovely to watch.
[Good / 4]
[Better than Average / 4]
[Excellent! / 5]
[Excellent! / 4]
[Excellent! / 5]
Hey, with that out of the way, the rest of the moral violations and godless values seem as innocent as, well, Disneyland.
This film is not appropriate for teenagers living in Christian households, let alone prepubescent children. While it’s downright deceitful for the MPA to put a G-Rating on this PG film, we find it shameful that Christian parents and organizations have wrapped their arms around this worldly muck and heralded its worldly merits to our children.
How lovely to have this blatant in-your-face reminder of the dangers of living in and of this world, and of the esteemed “socialization” that our daughter is missing out on by being schooled at home.
Note: You may look at the following and say: “How could anyone find that objectionable?” All right, maybe you don’t, but the person who reads this after you may.
Sex: couple making out in public—Mia imagines being in the girl’s place (twice); Mia says she’s “still waiting for normal body parts to arrive;” Teenage couples “petting;” Mention of a guy being “hot” and “wicked sweet;” Mention of a guy “not living with anyone;” Mention of Mia expecting to get her first kiss; couples dancing and cuddling; guy kisses Mia and she hits him with something; Joe kisses Mia (quickly—when he finds her. I couldn’t quite tell if it was on the cheek or lips) Michael and Mia kiss (intensely, twice)
Language: “shut up” used a “wow” (III); golly and other words are used, including “sucks” “freak” “rocks” “for the love of G*d” “shucks;” boy called a “backstreet boy clone;” Some girls call Mia “Thermopo-lips” and “Princess Pucker-up;” Mia calls a girl bully a “jerk”
Violence: Nothing I noticed
Drugs: Mention of brandy; drinking at a party
Nudity: school uniforms with short skirts; mini skirts flapping and showing thighs as girls dance (II); Many low necklines-cleavage shown; A couple other girls pull back the tent where Mia is changing, and she covers herself with only a towel; Mia wears a strapless dress
Other: guy sits on Mia, then backs away and says: “Sorry, I didn’t see you.;” mention of “barf;” Mia is very disrespectful at times (she improves by the end of the movie); twisting and dancing in band class; Cheerleaders dancing and turning cartwheels; Mention of parents thinking a girl needs an attitude adjustment; Rock band playing at the car shop where Mia’s car is; Mia dances (jerky, modern dance and then a Genovian waltz/tango dance); Mia calls her car “my baby” which earns her quite the look from her grandmother and Charlotte; Mia’s car rolls backward down a hill and crashes into a trolley; Beach party: bathing suits; girls dancing;
Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 4
It definitely pushed its “G” rating to the limit, and I was disappointed by that. Parents should be advised that there are several short scenes of passionate teen kissing, as well as worldly music and values throughout. I would not advise taking children to see this film.
[Average / 3]
The film does push its G-Rating to the limit, but in the end, I think the G was right. There are a few scenes that look like they could go wrong, but are settled before anything happens—and young children won’t even catch any of the hints. Bottom Line: Fun family entertainment.
[Good / 4]
[Excellent! / 4½]
[Excellent! / 5]
Oh if you were a fan of “Runaway Bride” pay close attention cuz I believe I counted three for sure maybe four people from that movie in this one. Their obvious characters so don’t look too hard. Again this was a very good and cute movie that the whole family can enjoy.
[Excellent! / 4]
[Excellent! / 5]
My 9-year-old daughter, who is part of the primary target audience, liked this film a lot. (Besides clicking with the central character, she loves Julie Andrews and watches “The Sound of Music” about once a month.) Is the film worth seeing, beyond the political consideration of supporting the few G-rated film that are made? I’d say yes. The acting and the technical aspects are good; the conflict elements are handled well.
It isn’t perfect, but it touches on a lot of important issues and could serve as a discussion-starter for several topics such as personal relationships and what’s really important in life…
So, just how far-fetched is this story? In ordinary terms, extremely so. There are only so many tiny kingdoms in the world with deficient royal bloodlines. But in another sense, something like this has happened to millions of people. Everyone who is joined to Jesus Christ is very special. In our relationship to those around us, we become ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor. 5:20).
Although an ambassador respects the laws and customs of the host country and tries to foster good relationships, he never forgets what his real home is. “For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20). But even beyond that, we are joint-heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17). If we overcome, we’ll be allowed to sit with Jesus on His throne (Rev. 3:21), judging the world and even judging angels (1 Cor. 6:2,3). that’s heavy stuff; but if the Bible is true, it’s all real.
My Ratings: [Better than Average / 4]