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A Modern-Day Fairy Tale 'Princess' submitted by: Lisa D. source: The Washington Post Date: August 3, 2001 By Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post Staff Writer DOESN'T EVERY little girl want to become a princess when she grows up? With the release of the frothy, feel-good, squeaky-clean comedy "The Princess Diaries," Walt Disney Pictures is certainly hoping she does. Hey, you get to wear a tiara, dress in froufrou skirts and live in a castle. People bow to you and cater to your every whim and tantrum. You never have to do the dishes or make the bed or set the table or take out the trash. Heck, I want to be a princess (okay, minus the tiara and the skirt . . . my ears are too big and my legs too hairy). Despite the fact that evidence exists to suggest that a few of today's girls and young women might actually aspire to become, oh I don't know, an astronaut, a brain surgeon, a movie critic (hey, a girl can dream, can't she?), "Princess" is banking on the hope that the classic female wish-fulfillment of the Cinderella/Diana Spencer story (at least up to the part about the bulimia and infidelity) will still resonate with the post-women's-lib audience of today's empowered female teens and 'tweens. Based on audience reaction to this fitfully amusing comedy from director and one-time sitcom king Garry Marshall, the fantasy is alive and well among little girls of all ages (the crowd ranged from giggly middle-school students and college coeds to tittering women in their fifties). Here's the story: When her divorced father dies, shy, gawky 15-year-old San Franciscan Mia (played by Anne Hathaway, a sort of Julia Roberts in a training bra) finds out she's next in line to inherit the crown of Genovia, a tiny European principality modeled on Monaco and ruled by her imperious grandmother, Queen Clarisse Renaldi (Julie Andrews). That's it. Of course, there are the requisite mean classmates, led by the blonde Lana (pop singer Mandy Moore), a misdirected crush on the wrong boy (Erik von Detten) while the right boy (dreamy Robert Schwartzman) waits in the wings, and a smart and smart-mouthed best friend (the ever-welcome Heather Matarazzo), whose jaundiced view of "the A crowd" serves as a much-needed tonic to the film's Up with People tone. Most of the comedy mileage comes from the "My Fair Lady" scenario, in which Mia's initially frumpy appearance and klutzy manner are eliminated through a regime of industrial-strength cosmetology and boot camp-style finishing school. Did I like it? Well, I'm not exactly the target demo, now am I? Still, for a G-rated film, there's enough bile and phlegm souring up the sweet main story to appeal to even those of us with more mature tastes. Check out Mia's cynical next-door neighbor Mr. Robutusen (sound it out), a jaundiced TV writer who never changes out his bathrobe, as well as such throwaway lines as this "M*A*S*H"-style gem, announced over the P.A. system of Mia's high school: "Will the Feng Shui Club please stop rearranging the tables on the lawn?" THE PRINCESS DIARIES (G, 115 minutes) -- Contains nothing offensive. Area theaters. Site design by: Dolphin Webpage Designs © 1996-2001