Disney teen makeover movie from the director of Pretty Woman, featuring Julie Andrews and co-produced by singer Whitney Houston
It‘s a teen dream: a geeky schoolgirl finds out she‘s really a princess, and is whisked into a glamorous world, making her the most popular girl in school.

But the teen in this movie, Mia Thermopolis (Hathaway), isn‘t so happy about her new found fame when grandmother Queen Clarisse Renaldi (Andrews) arrives to groom her to rule the nation of ‘Genovia‘. A reluctant trainee, the frizzy haired oddball struggles to come to terms with her future role.

The fantasy storyline is used as a framework for the usual teen movie moral messages: be nice to your spoddy friends, don‘t trust superficial cheerleaders, the boy for you is probably right under your nose, etc. Oh, and in this case, don‘t take the matter of ruling a country lightly.

Unfortunately all this is played out with a lack of subtlety and a lack of charm that builds through the course of the film. That this failed is largely down to the stilted, clichéd dialogue of the screenplay; fans of the wittier novel by Meg Cabot may well be disappointed. Despite cringeworthy moments there are guilty pleasures to be had for those who enjoy a ugly duckling story; the aspirational power of movie makeovers - on girls at least - should not be underestimated. Overall, though, the ingredients (popular book, good cast, successful director, wads of cash) are there, but the execution lets it down, not even meriting comparison with Pretty Woman but for the overlap in cast/crew members and theme.