Release Date: August 3, 2001
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Julie Andrews, Hector Elizondo, Caroline Goodall, Heather Matarazzo, Robert Schwartzman, Mandy Moore
Directed by: Garry Marshall
Written by: Gina Wendkos
Distributed by: Buena Vista Pictures
MPAA Rating: G
If you want to know what the onscreen version of beating a dead horse (and doing it badly on top of that) looks like, search no further than Garry Marshall (Runaway Bride, Pretty Woman)'s entry to Disney's kid-friendly version of the romantic comedy genre, The Princess Diaries. Although Marshall has made a specialty of getting audiences wrapped up in films that might politely be called "bubble-gum sweet," this G-rated venture is essentially a mind-numbing rehash of most of Marshall's less-inspired moments.
The movie capitalizes on what was surely every little girl's childhood dream -- to become a princess, and contrives a slightly ridiculous string of circumstances to effect that dream in the life of San Francisco teenager Mia Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway, making her big-screen debut). Which might be all right, because every movie requires a certain suspension of disbelief, except that Marshall's insistence upon this suspension seemingly plods on forever.
In point of fact, if there's a single fault to be found in The Princess Diaries, it's not the obscenely typical characters or the howlingly bad dialogue, but the film's overlong running time. At nearly two hours, it's got about thirty extra minutes that might've been edited out sixty seconds at a time throughout the film's length. In so doing, Marshall's film still would've been a bit ludicrous, but it wouldn't have taken nearly so long and it might've even appeared to be slightly charming.
But Marshall's hopes of charming a wide range of demographics were almost immediately lost anyway, as he opted for the inclusion of the word "princess" in the title. Adapted by Gina Wendkos (Coyote Ugly) from Meg Cabot's novel, the film tells the story of a socially awkward teenager in America who learns from her grandmother that she's the crown princess of the tiny (and in this case fictional) European nation of Genovia. She must subsequently decide whether to continue her life as an average girl in the U.S. or take up the responsibility of ruling a country.
The bulk of the film comprises the "princess lessons" which Mia's grandmother, Queen Clarisse Renaldi (Julie Andrews), imposes on the 16-year-old; in other words, transforming an average teenager into someone accustomed to the public spotlight. Predictably, these lead to awkward moments for Mia and somewhat amusing moments for the audience. More cumbersome, however, is Mia's decision on whether to take up the reigns of her new country; it presumably comes at the cost of alienating her friends, but as the audience learns in the end, Mia's friendships are never really in danger.
Most obviously, then, the film gives young girls in the audience a chance to indulge fantasies of instant popularity, and live them vicariously through Mia, but more discriminating viewers will become nauseous at the snail's pace with which Mia makes any and all decisions.
To her credit, Anne Hathaway plays up Mia as best she can, even easing the transition between the "nerdy" Mia from the film's beginning and the more refined version seen in the movie's second and third acts. (Which becomes something of a stumbling block for the film thematically -- ostensibly, it strives to show that anyone can become anything, but at the same time, it places an inordinate amount of emphasis on physical appearance.) Opposite her, Julie Andrews is on autopilot as the queen, and the only truly enjoyable moments (which are extremely rare) come from Hector Elizondo as the queen's chief of security.
But everything, including the talents of the lead actors, are forced to pander to the film's G rating, an obvious requirement of Disney's take on the romantic comedy. It's unfortunate that in conforming to such a requirement, director Marshall turned the film into an exasperating affair -- not nearly so funny as it would like to think it is. Of course it will cater to adolescent teenage girls, but with a bit of discretion, Marshall made have made the movie a bit more sympathetic to a much larger audience.
all contents © 2001 Craig Roush