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 Director
: Garry Marshall
Starring
: Anne Hathaway, Julie Andrews, Hector Elizondo, Mandy Moore,
Caroline Goodall, Robert Schwartzman
Picture
1.85:1 anamorphic, DD 5.1, Single-Side, Dual Layer, Snap
Case
Running
Time : 115 mins
The
story:
She
rocks. She rules. She reigns!
A
socially awkward but very bright 15-year-old girl (Anne
Hathaway) being raised by a single mom discovers that she
is the princess of a small European country because of the
recent death of her long-absent father, who, unknown to
her, was the crown prince of Genovia. She must make a choice
between continuing the life of a San Francisco teen or stepping
up to the throne. While Mia makes up her mind, she's pressed
into taking princess lessons from her stern grandmother
(Julie Andrews). Can she live the fairytale? or will she
find it all to difficult?
The
summary:
After
the abomination that was The Runaway bride, Garry Marshall
has tried to recapture his Pretty Woman Success story with
The Princess Diaries. Largely the film is a rehash of the
1990 phenomenon and for the most part succeeds in what it
sets out to do and that is be an enjoyable romantic rags
to riches comedy.
It
is impossible to review this movie without referring to
Pretty Women. Its like the writers took the "Whole Fairytale"
idea and decided to make a film that went one step further.
Essentially its Pretty women 2, the similarities being astounding.
Firstly a pretty young (Julia Roberts lookalike) schoolgirl
finds out that she is actually the princess of a small European
country and must not only come to terms with this but also
be groomed to rule the country after the death of her father.
Her teacher turns out to be Julie Andrews as her Queen grandmother.
Secondly her main confidant is Hector Elizondo as the hard
but caring bodyguard of the Queen instead of the hard but
caring hotel manager of Pretty Woman. I could go on, but
you get the idea.
As to the actual quality of the film, I have to say that
it was a lot better than I imagined it would be. The plot
is well paced and avoids being overtly twee. It is predictable,
but does rise above itself on occasions making it an enjoyable
hour and a half's entertainment. Its a case of if you liked
pretty Woman, you will love this. Mostly its very average,
but has enough feel good moments to warrant a watch. Anne
Hathaway is solid in the main role and certainly seems as
if she is being groomed to rival Julia Roberts in the leading
lady stakes. Julie Andrews is also very good, but you see
so much of Mary Poppins and other characters she has played
shining through that you wonder if this is just acting by
numbers for her. As mentioned above, Hector Elizondo also
stars and plays exactly the role he did in Pretty Women,
Different Clothes, Different name, but still as good. Overall
then, this is something that will probably be a Friday night
rental in with the missus. It won't be on your top ten list
but equally it won't be on your worst.
The DVD is another average Disney release that continues
their annoying trend of including trailers before the menu
appears (they can now be skipped - but are still annoying).
The extra's do not amount to much, although the picture
quality was of a high standard. 5.1, as for most films of
this ilk was functional, with certain scenes being very
well steered. Highlights included the beach scenes.
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