 |
| Director
: |
Forest Whitaker |
| Starring
: |
Katie Holmes, Marc Blucas,
Michael Keaton |
|
| The plot of
First Daughter |
The
President of the United States (Keaton) bends
to his daughter Samantha's (Holmes) demands to
attend college without any secret service in tow.
On the sly, he tasks a young agent (Blucas) to
tail her, which all goes according to plan until
the two fall in love. |
| First Daughter
Movie Review |
For
those who were worried that First Daughter would be
a knock-off of the Mandy Moore comedy Chasing Liberty,
fear not. This daughter-of-the-prez rom-com is instead
the next in a seemingly endless line of princess movies
this year, walking in the dainty and tedious footsteps
of A Cinderella Story, Ella Enchanted, and The Princess
Diaries 2. So insistent is it on following the once-upon-a-time
tradition that it, well, literally starts with director
Forest Whitaker intoning "Once upon a time…"
as a young girl catches a tiny frog in a teacup. No,
wait – hold your "awww"s, for by the
time the movie ends, the cardboard heroine Sam (Katie
Holmes) will be whisked away more than once by her Prince
Charming, find herself wearing a tiara, bow to the demands
of her tyrannical father-king, and attend the castle-like
Redmond College, home to the Redmond Knights. Knights
– get it? In shining armor and stuff? The only
thing missing is the errant shoe – oh, and a happy
ending, too.
Yes, indeed –
First Daughter is a fairy tale story in which everyone
lives a kinda-okay ever after, and nobody gets what
they really want, except President Mackenize (Michael
Keaton), who gets a second term in the White House.
Yes, it's election year (just like this year!) and time
for first daughter Samantha, princess of the USA and
code-name "Lucky Charm," to head off to college.
Ensconcing herself at Redmond College in California
with an alternately sassy and surly roommate (Amerie
Rogers, trying out for Destiny's Child), Sam most desperately
wants to be a Normal Girl and have a Normal College
Life. Apparently, having a normal college life means
appearing to attend only one class (philosophy), hitting
various parties, and trying to duck out on media coverage
of her every move. Aiding her in that cause is her hunky
resident advisor James (Marc Blucas, so downmarket from
his role on Buffy the Vampire Slayer), who takes her
for pizza, a '50s movie, a carnival, and an absurdly
staged boat ride featuring a frilly parasol for his
lady love. Of course, all this happy la-la can't last
for long, for James is not who he says he is, and due
to one errant date featuring some laughable table dancing,
Sam is dispatched back to DC to help with Daddy's re-election.
You'd think that no
movie could out-chaste the purer-than-pure G-rated Princess
Diaries flicks, but First Daughter presents such a whitewashed
version of teen girldom -- as well as DC politics and
rampant media coverage -- that you'd think Tom Sawyer
had mistaken the final print of the film for his backyard
fence. In just the past few years, we've been exposed
to both The West Wing and the Bush twins, and what we
see on CNN or read in the NY Post makes the antics of
First Daughter seem positively quaint in comparison.
Though the script, by Jessica Bendinger and Kate Kondell,
takes a stab at some First Family Drama and gives Sam
a dilemma between following her heart and following
her duties, it never feels like anything more than a
failed pilot for the WB, a distaff Jack & Bobby
that shows that, like, daughters of the President have
feelings too!
Though she's certainly
lovely, and seemingly perfect in every ensemble she
wears, Katie Holmes can't bring any life or spark to
Sam, though the subtext of her character is kind of
fascinating, as this pretty, blank-faced girl comes
off as a master manipulator. All the while, Sam screams,
"I just want to be normal!" but it's painfully
obvious that she's most relaxed and excited when she's
"on" for the cameras and the press; this girl
is so not normal, and she so obviously thrives on it,
too. It's the one interesting thing in this terrible
film, aside from the fact that Sam is clearly, absolutely
her father's daughter, as Keaton gives his presidential
role a sly, devious spin that showcases him perfectly
as the most charming of manipulators. He's so insidiously
sneaky in his machinations that you're tempted to look
into his eyes and say "Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!
Beetlejuice!" and see what happens. Chances are,
you wouldn't be surprised if something evil popped out.
|
More Movie Reviews links for First Daughter Movie |
|
|
