Things which could have made the movie better (in my opinion)
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — What a Girl Wants
StartingAllOver14 — 16 years ago(September 21, 2009 10:14 AM)
I finally saw this movie yesterday and thought it was okay. Not amazing and neither horrible. It was mostly a clichd and forgettable flick. However, there was some things that I thought could been improved. Beware of spoilers, by the way.
- The choice of Colin Firth as the father. I have nothing against him, but I thought he was too stiff as the role as the father. Although I know that he was supposed to be stiff, I would rather have a more vibrant actor as the father (even though I thought he pulled off the last emotional moment with his daugther).
- Henry could have been alone with Daphne when he finds out that she's his daughter. It would have made their moment more emotional. It was annoying that the other women were around him and making comments.
- The story could have been more tighten up at some parts. I know this film was a stereotypical presentation about a teenage girl trying to fit into "royalty", but the film was mostly about learning Daphne polite behaviour than to actually making her feel a part of the family - I felt especially that her father didn't showed any interest for her at the beginning. Again, I know that was the point of the story, but it just didn't clicked for me.
- Daphne's carefree side could have been more shown at the beginning of the movie. Of course it was important to establish that she missed her father, but the beginning was all about her needs. If the movie showed her spunky personality earlier on, it would have given her more depth to her character, especially when she's saying at the end; "I just want to be myself, that's enough for me".
- Last, but not least, I would liked to see a catfight between Daphne and Clarissa. It would have spicen up the movie a bit.
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BarronsGirl — 16 years ago(January 17, 2010 08:42 AM)
The choice of Colin Firth as the father. I have nothing against him, but I thought he was too stiff as the role as the father
I kind of agree there. I'm not really familiar with many of his works. Including this movie, I think I've seen him in 3but just from the impression of this movie, it looks like they could/should have picked someone who plays Strict and proper well, but also looks like he clearly has a suppressed wild sideand I just didn't get that from Colin. The leather pants and shopping scenes were good, but I just felt like it wasn't enough. I enjoyed his performance overall, but it could have been better.
Henry could have been alone with Daphne when he finds out that she's his daughter. It would have made their moment more emotional. It was annoying that the other women were around him making comments.
On one hand that's true, but I think the reason they did it the way they did was because Henry is never alone. His life is constantly being controlled by the men and women in his life. They influence/control/manipulate his every move and often it seems his thoughts as well. Take the Father/Daughter dance at the endthey convince him that it would be all right for Clarissa to take Daphne's place in the dance at Daphne's coming out party. So in the scene at the beginning when Daphne shows up, it's fitting that Glynnis and Clarissa would be there to butt in because that's just what they do.
Just thought I'd give some feedback to yours on this movie.
"YesNoTo get to the other side1.772" -
alizarin89 — 16 years ago(April 05, 2010 09:16 AM)
"Things which could have made the movie better (in my opinion)"
Yes, I too feel the quality could have been greatly enhanced by a few minor touches; such as, perhaps, the addition of a script. Maybe an actor here and there? Just little things like that
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kaymay09 — 15 years ago(March 07, 2011 10:37 AM)
Perhaps I'm just a huge Colin Firth fangirl, but I absolutely love him in this movie. I saw it when I was 12 and have sought out his movies since. I just went to his page to see how many of his films I've seen, thinking, "Oh maybe 5-8." Apparently it's 14. So I'm almost definitely a fangirl, but I don't mean to be an annoying one.
I just think he did a great job of portraying Daphne's father and a lord simultaneously. I love when they run off and she starts to see the real him (love the henna scene).
As far as the statement, "her father didn't show any interest for her at the beginning," I respectfully disagree. We have to remember that she is just a 17 year old girl he's never met who arrived in his life, just as he was running for office. He's never had a daughter, and doesn't exactly know what to do now that he has one. Also, because of his upbringing (and the last 17 years trying to fill his father's shoes), he behaves differently than one might expect. However, I find this perfectly believable. (Though perhaps I may be watching too many period films, all about "duty" "proper etiquette" etc.)
Eh, I'm glad they didn't include a catfight. That would've been too much. Plus, I'd like to think Daphne's above that.
You do, however, make some interesting points.
This may not be one of the best movies ever, but I love it as much now as I did 7 years ago. It's one of those childhood movies that remains a favorite, even compared to better films.
a big ball wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff -
lockon_stratos — 12 years ago(January 06, 2014 02:13 PM)
I like the idea of this movie and enjoyed it for the most part but I agree with many of your points.
Daphne acts too freely when she first came to the mansion roaming around, eating, dressing and doing whatever just to play up the carefree American girl too much.
Her father is kind of a shut in. He has no expressions of feelings.
People and scenes were too abrupt. It changes from happy in one moment to awkward the next. Proper and then crazy later. The father is all proper and then dances in front of the mirror, get cocoa puff, jumps on a bike, etc. I didn't think Firth and Bynes had chemistry. Firth has no chemistry at all. How did the father and mother get together in the first place? Too forced. Not a fan of Preston either.
They had to play up Brits as boring and uptight as well.
