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76 of 82 people found the following review helpful.
A Charming, Modern Day Fairy Tale
By Lois Regen
I thought that Princess Diaries was a charming, modern day fairy tale with a positive message under the lighthearted surface. Anne Hathaway was excellent, with terrific timing and delivery in her comic scenes, and with a touching subtlety in her dramatic moments. Julie Andrews was wonderful, perfectly cast as the majestic queen, with an undercurrent of affection and vulnerability beneath her regal exterior. The supporting cast was consistent and strong, and the movie had excellent production values and cinematography. The story meandered a bit in the middle, but soon found its focus again with a strong finish, which proved that there’s more to being a princess than makeup and manners.

A refreshing change from the usual kiddy fare of hyper, smart aleck scripts, I would recommend this film to anyone, but especially to parents with young or pre-teen children.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful.
Family Fun for All–Princess Diaries
By Elizabeth P. Goldman
The Princess Diaries is a true delight for family members of all ages. It is rated G (really) thus you can take any age to see it without fear of being surprised by content that is more suitable for older persons. Don’t let the rating, teenagers, keep you from seeing this film. It is humorous and every girl’s fantasy.

This is basically a story of a clumsy, awkward, adolescent girl, living with her bohemian artist mother, who discovers her paternal grandmother is a queen, her father was a prince, thus making her a princess and the only heir to the kingdom of Genovia. The girl, Mia, and her grandmother make a pact. She comes for 2 weeks of “training” in all the social graces, etc. befitting a ruler and then she can decide if this is the life she wishes to live or not. Her answer will be graciously accepted. This is not as straight forward and as simple a movie as it appears. There are a few little twists, turns and surprises on the way to the decision. There are also a few lessons on friendship and what is truly important in one’s life. Our entire family (ages 8, 9, 17, 25, and 48) enjoyed this movie thoroughly. Although it will not win an Academy award, it is quite an entertaining, charming, modern fairy tale. Don’t miss it.

Anne Hathaway (Mia) is funny, quirky, and masters the lip curl quite well in this film. Her clumsiness seems natural and she certainly cleans up well. Her transition from ugly duckling to beautiful swan is reminiscent of the late Audrey Hepburn.

Julie Andrews is perfect in her role as the Queen of Genovia bringing just the right amount of sophistication and warmth to the role. Her scenes with Hector Elizondo (Joe) show subtle senuality and the warm fuzziness and comfort of an old and trusted friend. You know there is another story there that isn’t being told. Their dance scene together can make you forget Miss Andrews was a singer. (Kids–she was Mary Poppins!) If you wish to see Miss Andrews in her true glory watch her as “Maria” in the movie, The Sound of Music.

Other cast members who round out the story and do a great job are Terry Wayne (Clark,the hairdresser), Heather Matarazzo (Lilly) as Mia’s best friend, Robert Schwartzman (Michael) who is Lilly’s brother, and Patrick Richwood as the neighbor/writer. Mr. Robutusen.

Mandy Moore also makes her film debut as one of the “beautiful people” preps who is also part of a singing trio at school.

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful.
Great Movie, Better DVD!!!
By Mr. JKW
THE MOVIE:

Although a bit formulaic with the “ugly duckling” storyline, this movie really was a great way to spend two hours. The basic storyline has Mia (Anne Hathaway), an unpopular (to put in mildly) school girl finding out that she’s the heir to the throne of a small European kingdom when her long-lost grandmother (the legendary Julie Andrews!!!) shows up to claim her for the throne.

The rest of the movie basically shows Mia taking the hilarious steps to refine and (physically and socially) transform herself for the throne while she tries to survive the tenth grade, find the right boyfriend and battle off the paparazzi. While the plot may sound cliché, the movie really is a great flick taking you back to those less than secure days of high school. You’ll really feel for Mia as she battles her own self-doubts, feelings, emotions and those sometimes cruel classmates of hers (including pop superstar Mandy Moore).

Highlights:

- The first state dinner!!!

- Beating the ticket!!!

- Those high school adventures…

- The hilarious lessons in etiquette…

- The makeover…

- A young girl finds herself!!!

The best scenes in the movie for me were the “State Dinner” and the part where they tried to beat a ticket from a cop.

THE DVD FEATURES:

Overall, Princess Diaries DVD is basically a great representative of what most DVD movies SHOULD be like as it is just chalked full of great extras.

1. 8 deleted scenes from the movie, including commentary from director Gary Marshall introducing each scene and then subsequently explaining why they were cut from the movie. GREAT extra.

2. Behind-the-scenes documentary/featurette “A New Princess.” Truly one of the better behind-the-scenes documentaries I’ve seen with tons of cast and crew interviews, including looks at the different cast members and why they were cast for their specific roles. You’ll get to see a lot of the cast interaction including a cast and crew party.

3. Two music videos including Myra’s “Miracles Happen” and Krystal Harris’ “Supergirl.” These were cool…

4. TWO OPTIONAL AUDIO COMMENTARIES: One from Gary Marshall and one from Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews. The commentaries actually run throughout the movie where they explain and give their thoughts on each scene.

Summed up, this is basically a really, really good DVD and definitely a must-see if you really liked the movie. Disney’s done a great job on it.

Overall, if you dig those “teen/chick” types of movies, you’ll go for this one. I’d equate this to a cross between “Miss Congeniality” and “Never Been Kissed.” It’s a fun movie to kill a few hours with or to catch while on a date. If you’re a guy, I’ll guarantee your spouse/girlfriend will probably like it…

THE VERDICT:

The Movie: Recommended

The DVD: Highly Recommended If You Really Loved the Movie

See all 500 customer reviews…

The Princess Diaries – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Princess Diaries is a series of epistolary novels by Meg Cabot in the chick-lit and young-adult fiction genre, and the title of the first volume, published in 2000.

The Princess Diaries (film) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Princess Diaries is a 2001 American comedy film produced by singer and actress Whitney Houston and directed by Garry Marshall. It is based on Meg Cabot’s 2000 novel …

The Princess Diaries | Trailer and Cast – Yahoo! Movies
The Princess Diaries (2001) Like. 2. Yahoo! users: star43.98. … whether she will live as a princess and move to Genovia or remain in San Francisco where she lives …

Princess Diaries I (1) | Author Meg Cabot
Mia Thermopolis didnt think life could get more complicated when your mom dates your algebra teacher until she found out she was princess of Genovia. Read excerpt …

Amazon.com: The Princess Diaries: Anne Hathaway, Heather Matarazzo …
Synopsis: A teenager finds that she is the princess of a small European country Starring: Anne Hathaway , Heather Matarazzo Supporting actors: Hector Elizondo , Mandy …

The Princess Diaries – Rotten Tomatoes – Movies | Movie Trailers …
The Princess Diaries (2001) tomatometer. All Critics; Top Critics; 47. Average Rating: 5.2/10 Reviews Counted: 113 Fresh: 53 | Rotten: 60 A charming, if familiar …

The Princess Diaries (The Princess Diaries, #1) by Meg Cabot …
The Princess Diaries has 87,262 ratings and 2,395 reviews. Shannon (Giraffe Days) said: If you’ve seen the movie version, this book takes up about the fi…

Amazon.com: The Princess Diaries (9780380814022): Meg Cabot: Books
Mia Thermopolis is your average urban ninth grader. Even though she lives in Greenwich Village with a single mom who is a semifamous painter, Mia still puts on her …

The Princess Diaries (2001) – IMDb
Mia Thermopolis has just found out that she is the heir apparent to the throne of Genovia. With her friends Lilly and Michael Moscovitz in tow, she tries to navigate …