Customer Reviews

The Princess Diaries

5 star:		(98)
4 star:		(38)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I can understand why so many people would like it. It's a harmless, safe family film and I have no problem with those. I think The Lion King is still a Disney classic. But I don't like this movie for many reasons:

1)It's nothing new. I actually read a critic review that called it revolutionary. Excuse me? What's so revolutionary about a movie that rehashes the same themes that have been used for decades? Then I realized that he was talking about the movie's rating. I'm sorry but this movie just proves why G rated films get such a bad rep from the begining. Predictable plot, unrealistic dialog(When a cheerleader's outfit gets ruined by ice cream she screams "You're a freak" to the girl who did it. What the hell? I know this is Disney but trust me, when someone ruins your outfit, "freak" ain't the word that will flash in your head. It would have been better if she had called her a witch or something) and the obligatory happy ending(humor me once Disney and make a realistic ending in a G rated movie) there's no new ground broken, no new message given. This is probably why most of the time movies that win Academy Awards are PG-13 or R.

2. It tries too hard to be cute. I rented the DVD, so I can't say how the people in my theater reacted to it, but I didn't laugh once. The movie relies too much on slapstick humor, than witty dialog for laughs and for me it falls flat. I guess kids younger than me will find Mia's clumsiness funny but I sure didn't.

3. Not everyone wants to be a princess. I don't blame Mia for not wanting the job(yes it is a job like the wonderful Juile Andrews said). All one has to do was watch the Princess Diana E! True Hollywood Story and see that being a princess isn't all that glamorous. I was a bit disappointed for Mia's reason for becoming a princess. It seemed like she doing it because it was the "right" thing to do, other than what she wants to do.

and finally,
4. It's just bland. There's no spice, no flavor to make it memorable. The Lion King was funny as well as touching and original. There are just so many better ugly duckling stories(IMO Mia wasn't ugly to begin with) like My Fair Lady.

So in conclusion if you want to show your kid something entertaing while inoffensive, take them to see Monsters Inc. I recommend avoiding this movie at all costs.

This was a delightfully sweet surprise! The cinematography was lovely and the acting superb. Anne Hathaway is a lovely, talented girl and plays her part well as the first geeky Mia Thermopolis. As she is transformed throughout the movie, she never loses her wonderful and kind nature or her friendly spirit. Julie Andrews was well cast as Mia's grandmother, Queen Clarice of Genovia.

The story begins with a peek into the somewhat average life of Mia Thermopolis, a geeky San Francisco misfit who lives with her single, artist mother in an old fire house that has been transformed into a fascinating home. She attends a private school that is paid for by her father, where she has only one friend. Lily, played by actress Heather Matarazzo, is a quirky, sweet girl whose wants to make a difference using her television show "Shut Up and Listen". Everyone at school makes fun of Mia or simply ignores her. Everyone accept for Lily and Michael, Lily's adorable but somewhat unique older brother played by Robert Shwartzman. Unfortunately, Mia doesn't notice Michael's admiration of her as she has eyes only for the school hot shot, Josh, played by Erik von Detten, who is dating Lana Fontana, the stuck school cheerleader played by pop singer Mandy Moore. Of course Josh doesn't even acknowledge that Mia even exists until one day ...
Nearing her 16th birthday, Mia suddenly receives a surprise visit from her grandmother and finds out that she may not be so normal as she first expected. Queen Clarice informs Mia that her recently deceased father was the only remaining blood heir to the throne of Genovia. Accept for Mia that is. Mia is next in line for the crown, but surprisingly she doesn't want it. Angry with her mother and grandmother for not telling her the truth about her family, Mia refuses to have anything to do with being a princess, until her mother encourages her to give Princess Lessons a try. Using all of her resources, Queen Clarice transforms Mia from a geeky klutz into a stunning beauty. This transformation only increases Michael's admiration for her, but when the word gets out that Mia is not only now gorgeous but also a princess, Mia heads into a boatload of trouble. As Mia deals with pressures at school, in her friendships, and her family, she must choose who are really her friends and what she must do with the rest of her life.

This DVD also contains neat extras. You can watch several originally deleated scenes, a behind the scened featurett, as well as several movie trailers. It is beautifully displayed with soft music and pink roses blooming on the menu screens.

Julie Andrews's part of Queen Rinaldi fit her like a glove. I had to actually remind myself that she wasn't royalty.

Unfortunately, Disney can be a bit predictable at times with the storylines but with The Princess Diaries they did a good job of telling the Cinderella tale in modern-day language that today's kids can understand.

This Cinderella story has a twist, with the odd girl finding out she's a princess - and the only descendent that can keep the throne of Genovia in her family. Unrealistic, sure, but it's good for kids to dream.

Many issues are discussed in the film: Dealing with the loss of a parent at a young age, dealing with people who like you only for what you have not for who you are, dealing with a family that has kept its distance. Children won't see or understand the deeper meanings but the storyline teaches those points as best it can.

Definitely a fun movie to watch.

Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews are standout leads in this movie about Mia Thermopolis, a 15-year-old nerd from San Francisco, who discovers she is the heir to the throne of a (fictional) European country called Genovia. She becomes Eliza Doolittle to her grandmother Queen Clarisse's Henry Higgins as she is groomed, both literally and figuratively, to be presented at a royal ball. She must make the decision whether to accept her title later.

So there is a fun little makeover scene where she comes out a raving beauty. I loved the last names -- the Italian stylist is named Paolo Putanesca (like the pizza) and their neighbor is Mr. Robitussin. Mandy Moore is blonde cheerleader princess Lana, who heads a little clique made up of Anna and Fontana. She sings a little rendition of Stupid Cupid at the beach party. I think they just wanted to show off that they had a pop singer in the cast, because you are not cool if you sing 50s songs at high school parties, and she was supposed to be the coolest one there.

A very enjoyable romp, free of any sexual innuendo, drugs, or cursing -- the harshest thing they call each other is freak and jerk.

The movie "The Princess Diaries" was so much different from the book! I loved the book, so I was very excited to see the movie. To my surprise, it was totally different! I actually liked the movie more than the book though, finding it to be more approperiate and lighthearted. In the movie, Mia Thermopolis is a gawky, funny looking fourteen year old girl. She thinks she has it hard enough as it is, having had her father die around three months ago. Not at all...her grandmother flies in right away from Genovia, for tea. During "tea-time" Mia finds out that she is princess of Genovia (the fictional country in Europe that her grandma runs), and she has to go to a fancy ball in a few weeks. Mia goes through a huge transformation and finds herself facing problems with her best friend Lilly, school, and her soon-to-be boyfriend Josh. This movie is hilarious, and much better than the book, because it's a clean, family movie.

Okay this movie isn't all bad. It is something I can watch with my little cousin, but it is not the book. The book was a lot more interesting and I liked it a lot better, but I guess Disney didn't want a mean snob grandmother and a dad with testicular cancer in their G rated movie. And practicly none of the stuff in the movie is anywhere in the first or second book.

I may be a sentimentalist at heart and prefer sappy movies to violent movies, but as a grown woman I loved the movie The Princess Diaries based on the book by Meg Cabot. This was one of the most delightful movies I've seen in a long time and a welcome antidote to the current movie fare as well as national News. The cast, which includes Julie Andrews, Hector Elizondo and Anne Hathaway as the unkempt young woman who becomes a princess, is absolutely perfect. And any opportunity to see Julie Andrews as the Queen and Hector Elizondo in the same movie is cause for a celebration. Some may even see Mr. Elizondo's role in The Princess Diaries as a bit similar to the one he played in Pretty Woman.

Mia Thermapolis is a young woman living in San Francisco with her mother who is an artist. She's a 9th graders who complains about being too tall, having curly hair, feels awkward around boys and worries that she may never be kissed by a boy. She doesn't' think her life could ever be more complicated until she meets an elegant woman who tells Mia that her father was the Prince of Genovia and that she is his heir and a princess. And this woman should know since she's not only Mia's grandmother but the Queen of Genovia. At this point the viewer may wonder why Mia never knew this before but I was so taken in with this film I didn't bother thinking about this for too long.

Now the fun begins as Mia must shed her 9th grade poor self- image and learns to become a princess under the tutelage of her grandmother and Hector Elizondo. Throughout the movie we are treated to wonderful scenes of Mia learning how to behave like a princess to dealing with her schoolmates who suddenly notice Mia, as they never did in the past. Perhaps my favorite scene is when Mia, after giving serious consideration to what her life will be like in the future, is presented to society as a princess by her grandmother.

This movie, which does differ from the book, is both appropriate for young adults and sophisticated enough to appeal to older audiences as well. And it really was so delightful to watch a movie with no violence, nudity or foul language. This is a one of a kind movie reminiscent of Eliza Doolittle from My Fair Lady who was originally played by Ms. Andrews and the musicals of Rodgers and Hammerstein. Finally, this movie reminds one of what it was like to be a little girl wishing that would wake up one day to learn that she is suddenly a princess. Now I'm hoping another movie would be made continuing the story of Mia and her royal family. I'd love to know s how life is treating her as she flies off to Genovia at the end of this movie.

True beauty lies within. It's not just a cliche. It's one of the great truths of life. Stories, tales, myths, songs, poems, books, and movies love to explore the theme. It's the heart of stories like the Ugly Duckling and Cinderella. Garry Marshall's THE PRINCESS DIARIES (he directed and adapted it from the book; the book is much more vulgar) is one of the best newest adaptations of a story revolving around the truth that true beauty lies within. Mia is a fifteen year-old girl who's major goal in life was to become invisible. Then her forgotten grandmother pays a visit to San Francisco and Mia learns that she is the heir to the throne of Genovia. Mia has to choose whether to except her heritage or forsake it for the life she once knew. What follows is a voyage of discovery and growing up. Mia learns that things aren't always what they appear to be and that you can't judge a book by it's cover because true beauty lies within.

As for those who think the movie gives girls a negative example of life, saying that it perpetrates the idea that only "good looks" count, the message of the movie is the exact opposite. Mia doesn't want to dress and become like the cheerleading imbeciles at her school. She would rather remain as she is; a geeky girl with crazy hair and glasses unknown to most of the world, but loved by those who truly count. However, for the greater good, she becomes in appearance like what she most detests. In doing so, she remains true to herself and the virtue and beauty within radiate forth for all to see.

Is The Princess Diaries mostly a girl movie? Yeah. But my sister received the DVD for Christmas, so I figured why not? It was actually just a light-hearted little comedy, the Princess who doesn't know she is. Julie Andrews makes a good queen for the role, and Anne Hathaway is pretty good girl-turned-Princess too.

Actually, this movie didn't gain such high marks from me until my sister received the books of the same title at Christmas of the next year. WELL! I happened to pick 'em up during the confusion of Christmas morning, and my goodness. My opinion of Gary Marshall skyrocketed when I discovered that the books were filled with lots of cursing, tons of sexual references/discussions, and overall, a much more depressing story. (In that Mia was much more of a jerk, her friends jerks, her grandmother was a jerk, and her whole life was one big dysfunctional wreck)

I remember hearing Gary Marshall comment about how he'd wanted to make the movie more happy because, contrary to Hollywood's opinion, not EVERY teenager's life is filled with drugs, booze and darkness. Cheers to him for giving it a squeaky-clean makeover; it makes me want to go out and look up more of his works.

It's, I suppose, what a lot of people would call a "chick flick" or a "date movie", but in either case, even though I'm a guy, I thought it was a nice, happy, CLEAN movie.

It's Pretty Woman for little girls! Ironically (or not) Gary Marshal directed this movie too. Still, even though the Cinderella plot is not originial, the movie is fun to watch and a good show. Julie Andrews is delightful as the Grandmother and I was reminded of why she was once upon a time the highest paid actor in all of Hollywood (that's counting both men and women). Mia, played by Anne Hathaway, is just your average nerdy fifteen-year-old suffering through private school when she learns that she is the heir to the Genovian throne. Hence the title, "Princess Diaries." The revelation requires Mia to learn how to act the princess part and this is the best part of the film - the princess lessons. Everything is wrapped up in a suitably happy Disney ending. The whole family will enjoy this film but young girls and grandmoms will love it.