What a Girl Wants (2003)

Director: Dennie Gordon
Writer: Screenplay: Elizabeth Chandler, Jenny Bicks Based on: William Douglas-Home (Play "The Reluctant Debutante" and original 58-screenplay)
Cast: Amanda Bynes, Colin Firth, Kelly Preston, Aileen Atkins, Ian Wallace
Genre: Teen, Comedy, Drama, Romance

What a Girl Wants is Amanda Bynes 2nd movie (not counting her voice work at Charlotte's Web 2), and also the 2nd I'll review as part of my Bynes-marathon. It's a remake of the 1958 movie The Reluctant Debutante, and stars Amanda Bynes as 'Daphne Reynolds', the daughter of an English Lord, 'Lord Henry Dashwood'. A Lord aiming for the Prime Minister position in the upcoming election, unaware of his 17-year old daughter from his short lived romance with her mother. Always wanting to meet her father, Daphne sets off to London to meet him. We get to follow the cultural shock of London society facing the feisty American teen, and the family complications involving a woman about to marry Lord Dashwood, her daughter and of course a fresh romance for our girl 'Daphne'.

Colin Firth plays 'Lord Dashwood', and does a great job at that. Bynes also get to showcase her comedic talent throughout, but most of all this movie is filled with charm and warmth. It's in no way very original or unpredictable, but doing the predictable you can't do much better than this. What a Girl Wants is about as good as the genre can get, and is a throughout enjoyable movie which probably is the best the recently retired Amanda Bynes ever participated in.