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What a Girl Wants

What a Girl Wants

Family · Comedy · Drama · 2003

American Daphne Reynolds heads to Europe in search of the father she's never met. But instead of finding a British version of her boho mother, she learns the love of her mom's life is an uptight politician. The only problem now is that her long-lost father is engaged to a fiercely territorial social climber with a daughter who makes Daphne's life miserable.

Movie details

What a Girl Wants

“Trying to fit in. Born to stand out.”

2003 Family · Comedy · Drama 1h 45m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.3 / 10

Community rating

American Daphne Reynolds heads to Europe in search of the father she's never met. But instead of finding a British version of her boho mother, she learns the love of her mom's life is an uptight politician. The only problem now is that her long-lost father is engaged to a fiercely territorial social climber with a daughter who makes Daphne's life miserable.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over What a Girl Wants?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Dennie Gordon

Written by

Elizabeth Chandler · Jenny Bicks · William Douglas-Home

Amanda Bynes

Amanda Bynes

Daphne Reynolds

Colin Firth

Colin Firth

Henry Dashwood

Kelly Preston

Kelly Preston

Libby Reynolds

Eileen Atkins

Eileen Atkins

Jocelyn Dashwood

Anna Chancellor

Anna Chancellor

Glynnis Payne

Jonathan Pryce

Jonathan Pryce

Alistair Payne

Oliver James

Oliver James

Ian Wallace

Court is in session

Put What a Girl Wants on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.