Herb Kane
Screenwriter
- Joined
- May 7, 2001
- Messages
- 1,342
What A Girl Wants
Studio: Warner Brothers
Year: 2003
Rated: PG
Film Length: 105 Mins.
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audio: DD 5.1
Subtitles: English, French & Spanish
The Feature:
This is definitely a pre-teen/teen feel good movie for girls. Daphne (Amanda Bynes) is a young girl who wishes year after year on her birthday that her father, Henry Dashwood (Colin Firth) would come to find her. Her mother Libby Reynolds (Kelly Preston) has told her the story of their romance and how they were separated due to her father’s aristocratic family. Finally, Daphne takes fate into her own hands on her 17th birthday and leaves her home in Chinatown NY to fly to London to find her father who is a political candidate for Prime Minister. Daphne is thrown into a whirlwind of garden parties and balls where she must fight to keep her own sense of who she is and be true to herself finding romance along the way. Throw in an interfering political advisor (Jonathan Pryce) with his own agenda, his daughter who is engaged to marry Henry Dashwood and a soon to be, extremely jealous, step-daughter just for fun and you’re left with a not so aristocratic family who try to dash the dream of the young girl. Daphne shakes the aristocracy to its very core and comes out a winner.
Audio:
Simply put, the audio for this disc is terrific. At the start of the movie there is a brief narration and the dialogue is very clear. Much of the film is shot in a castle with creaky floors, large wooden doors and everything sounds very realistic. There are many social parties and the background noise is very apparent with good use of the surrounds. Another example of surround use is a good rain storm upon her arrival to England. There is moderate LFE which is apparent during a plane scene (landing in London) and during some music scenes. The movie is loaded with music which comes across as very clear and solid. Many of the introduction scenes are filled with classical music which is clear and very airy. This is a solid DD 5.1 mix which I was quite impressed with.
Video:
Once again Warner has given us an outstanding transfer that is crystal clear and extremely sharp. The colors almost came alive as they were so incredibly vibrant. Contrast was very good with excellent black levels. As one would expect with a new release, I did not detect any video noise or dirt and no sign of any EE. The video presentation really doesn’t get much better than this.
Special Features:
There are a number of special features which include:
-Commentary by Amanda Bynes
-Commentary by Director Dennie Gordon
- Commentary by Screenwriters Jenny Bicks --Fashion & Etiquette 101
-What’s A Girl To Wear? (interactive fashion quiz)
-Additional Scenes
-Theatrical Trailer
-Cast & Crew
Finally, I stumbled upon an easter egg (did I mention that I hate easter eggs?). When the top of the laurel leaf on the chair is highlighted in the Special Features section, you get a screen test for two teens (Peach & Pear) who appear in the movie.
Final Thoughts:
While I’d never admit this to most of my friends or co-workers, I actually enjoyed the movie and I think most teens will as well. Warner has presented a solid disc with outstanding audio and video. Highly Recommended.
Release Date: August 5th, 2003