The Princess Diaries [DVD] [2001]

Description

San Francisco teenager Mia Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway) just wants to get through the rigours of high school unharmed, avoiding as many of life's petty embarassments as possible. However, when her long-lost grandmother Clarisse (Julie Andrews) appears out of the blue, Mia gets the surprise of her life; it seems she is the princess of a tiny principality called Genovia, and is in fact next in line to the throne. Angry that this news has been kept from her, Mia nevertheless agrees to embark on a crash course of princess lessons. But when she begins to get lost in a comic flurry of bungled state engagements and over-eager media attention, the prospective princess begins to wonder if the royal life is really the right life for her. Review: Thankyou - Great film I gave mine to my mumso wanted one for me Review: Charming - This is certainly one of the most charming films I have seen in a while. It deals with the old fable of the girl who is told she is a princess and is going to be taken off into a magical land where she can be happy. The Princess Diaries takes this story and puts it into into a modern teenage context. Mia plays a dejected unpopular teenager who has no pride in herself or in her appearance, her friends are all a little bit off-the-wall and outspoken. She daydreams about the popular boy of the school dating her, etc, all the usual stuff that can be expected from somebody in her position. The film deals with the sudden and drastic changes that happen in her life, and how everyone around her reacts to what is happening. Her true friends think that she is selling out as her image is glamorised, people start wanting to be friends with her because of her position, and all the while Mia is still the same shy worrisome teenager beneath it all. The film carries a moral message - that its what's inside that counts, and that just because she was made a Princess it doesn't make her any more special than she was before. I think this film is hugely enjoyable, filled with moments that are really quite funny as well as moments that can be really quite touching. Wonderful stuff.