BY BRANDY PARRISH | This remake of The Reluctant Debutante takes a little bit of What Women Want, adds some Pretty Woman with a smidgen of Cinderella and a soupcon of Bridget Jones Diary and voila we get What a Girl Wants. If you were a fan of The Princess Diaries, this one may leave you a bit flat, but mildly entertained. The attempt to give tweens and adults a story worth watching is a struggle that pits the father-daughter story line against our heroines transformation. The trailer certainly has made this an enticing movie, but it looses the focus of its core story and becomes a predictable fish-out-of-water tale that might give you a few smiles, but doesnt deliver laughs or really tug at the heartstrings.

Daphne Reynolds (Amanda Bynes) lives a somewhat bohemian life with her singer mother Libby (Kelly Preston) in a 5^th floor walk up in Chinatown. Every year on her birthday, she makes her mother tell her the story of how her mother and father met and why they are no longer together. Daphne often works as a caterer at the weddings where her mother sings, and her greatest dream is to have her father/daughter dance. Libby constantly reminds Daphne that the pressures of his family are what drove her away and that she doesnt want Daphne to have to go through what she did. However, Daphne is now seventeen, so armed with a plane ticket and a passport, she takes off to find her father in London.

Daphne gets to London meets Ian (Oliver James) and is immediately smitten, but she soon learns that her father Lord Dashwood (Colin Firth) is a high profile politician. Nothing is going to stop Daphne so without further delay, she goes off to meet her father. Their abrupt and unconventional meeting leaves Dashwood still trying to understand why Libby left him in the first place and having to deal with the surprise of his life.

Dashwoods life is filled with his conniving fiancie, her daughter and his campaign for a seat in the House of Commons. Daphne has arrived at the beginning of summer, which is the time for social engagements and debutante balls. Against the wishes of his fiancie, Dashwood invites Daphne to spend the summer and accompany the family on their social responsibilities.

The elite of British society is the circle that Dashwood runs in and it is a world that is completely foreign to Daphne. At first she takes the position of take what youve got and make the best out of it. Unfortunately, the actions that she takes in such public arenas do not carry over well with the British tabloids, her soon to be stepmother and sister or her fathers position. Although charming and seemingly harmless at first the implications and attention are too big and Dashwood must insist that Daphne must conform and fit in with his environment and social status.

The Cinderella story begins and we watch the transformation. There are fleeting moments were father and daughter make a connection. Daphne does her best to subdue her natural impulses and behave and dress the way a young deb should. She begins to gain acceptance into this world to the constant disappointment of her stepmother and sister who continually try to sabotage her so that she will be sent home to New York and forgotten by Dashwood. Dashwood continues to struggle with why Libby left him and never told him about Daphne. He struggles with trying to keep up appearances, getting to know his daughter and take on the responsibilities of fatherhood. All of this is leading up to Daphnes presentation to society where Daphne must choose between being who she really is or being what her father wants her to be.

This is a simple movie of a young girl coming into her own. Colin Firth as usual is great; in fact, he is the most interesting person on screen. (I may be biased because Im a huge fan of his). The problems with the movie is that what starts as a father/daughter story becomes a Cinderella story and the father/daughter story which is the more compelling story suffers and plays second chair. The shift in attention is dramatic. It suddenly feels as though you are at the beginning of a new movie.

This is a young girls fantasy come true that is often silly, corny and predictable. If this is the type of movie youre are in the mood to see, skip this one and check out Bend It Like Beckham for a real infusion of girl power.

Grade: C