I am a forty-something year-old father and not the sort of person to which this film was targeted. I like foreign films, classic Hollywood and even silent films and am very critical about the horrid quality of the films that have been released over the last thirty years. Because of all this, you would assume that I would hate THE PRINCESS DIARIES--I sure did. But when my oldest daughter insisted we buy this film and watch it together, I was genuinely shocked that I found myself enjoying and being sucked into what is essentially a teen and pre-teen girls' film. Due to terrific writing, very good acting and a fairy tale-like quality to the film, I was very, very impressed.
The movie, by the way, reminded me of a much better retooling of the old Grace Kelly film, THE SWAN. However, unlike THE SWAN, this film was really engaging and sweet.
FYI--SPOILER ALERT!!! I have never seen the sequel to THE PRINCESS DIARIES and have no desire to. That's because the fundamental message in the first movie is that you need to be true to yourself and your friends and no matter what the pressures were, the new princess did not forget her friends or nerdy boyfriend. However, the main plot idea of PRINCESS DIARIES II is that she's in search of a prince to marry--what happened to the message and happy ending to PRINCESS DIARIES?!
The movie, by the way, reminded me of a much better retooling of the old Grace Kelly film, THE SWAN. However, unlike THE SWAN, this film was really engaging and sweet.
FYI--SPOILER ALERT!!! I have never seen the sequel to THE PRINCESS DIARIES and have no desire to. That's because the fundamental message in the first movie is that you need to be true to yourself and your friends and no matter what the pressures were, the new princess did not forget her friends or nerdy boyfriend. However, the main plot idea of PRINCESS DIARIES II is that she's in search of a prince to marry--what happened to the message and happy ending to PRINCESS DIARIES?!