The Princess Diaries (2-Disc Collectors Set)

The story is not all that original. A long lost heir to the throne of Genovia has been identified as a klutzy teenager who lives in San Francisco. The Queen of Genovia goes to San Francisco and attempts to persuade her to come back to Genovia and take her place as a princess of the realm. From their the typical hijinks ensue. The princess gets an education in proper royal behavior & procedures. The Queen learns to loosen up and relax. Princess Mia also struggles between dating the school jock, who ignored her before she became famous and dating an unpopular guy who has been her friend for years.
The story is predictable and hold no real surprises. Despite this I still found myself enjoying the film. Julie Andrews did well in her role as the Queen and it was a treat to see her in another Disney film.

This is a charming, light hearted film that is fun for the whole family. It is a bit of fluff that tells the tale of a gawky and shy fifteen year old misfit named Mia, who is, in reality, Princess of Genovia.

Mia, played with adolescent charm by beautiful newcomer, Anne Hathaway, is just another adolescent living in San Francisco with her artist mother. Out of the blue, her estranged, paternal grandmother, Queen of Genovia, swoops down upon her and tells Mia that she is, in fact, a princess of royal blood and the next ruler of the kingdom of Genovia. Granny, regally played by the stately, always lovely, and seemingly ageless Julie Andrews, is determined to turn her awkward granddaughter into a princess worthy of her crown. Mia, a most reluctant royal, agrees to these "princess" lessons, and along the road to royalty learns a few hard lessons about growing up.

An excellent supporting cast, Hector Elizondo, Heather Matarazzo, Mandy Moore, Caroline Goodall, and Robert Schwartzman, contribute to the charm of this film, which provides good clean fun for the entire family.

When I first saw the film, I liked it. I didn't love it or anything, but I found it vaguely enjoyable. Then I found out there were books! So I read the books...

And now I hate the movie.

What is the big idea here? I like Anne Hathaway, but she completely failed to portray Mia the way she should have. Mia in the books hates being a princess, did not really want to be dressed up and pretty, and is obsessed with Greenpeace and saving animals. She is opinionated, funny, and a bit nerdy, with her head way up in the sky. She is not a girly-girl, she is not glamourous, and she is not a great beauty.

As for the other characters? Mia's friend/bodyguard Lars in the books is changed to the bodyguard Joe, who is in love with Mia's grandmother. I'm sorry, but no.

And speaking of Mia's grandmother, what is up with Clarisse Renaldo here? In the books, she was a cranky witch who always yells at Mia and puts her down or tries to manipulate her, and she always drinks and smokes while her balding poodle cowers in the corner. In the movies, she is nice. The perfect royal grandmother. I would not have picked Julie Andrews to play her, mostly because I can't see Julie Andrews tattooing eyeliner around her eyes and shaving her eyebrows to pencil new ones on.

Lilly wasn't terribly different that I can remember. She was more fleshed out and detailed in the books, though. But Mia never mentions her crush on Michael until the end. She liked Josh Richter for about two weeks. She had a crush on Michael from the first grade.

Also, Disney is gearing this towards the wrong audience. The books were definitely PG-13, what with Mia's mother getting pregnant with her Algebra teacher's baby, Mia at one point catching her cousin Rene using a fax machine to photograph his "nether regions," and other things like that. It was not meant to be a cutesy movie for eight-year-old girls who love pink. The integrity of the books has been raped.

Go ahead and praise it if you want, but this movie is complete and total garbage. I haven't even seen the second one, where Mia turns 21 and has to get married, although there is no such clause in the books, the whole movie isn't even based on a book, and in the books, Mia never passes age 15. What are the fine folks at Disney doing to people? All the new movies that have come out recently, with the exceptions of Finding Nemo and Pirates of the Carribean, have been terrible. Just like this movie. I would reccommend the books in the Princess Diaries series to anyone, but PLEASE do not watch this movie.

I loved this movie.
It is a "modern day" fairy tale, and since it's from Disney you can expect a happy ending. But it is also very funny. Anne Hathaway as Mia was great, and Julie Andrews as the grandmother was hilarious as well.

This is a "feel good" movie that is a guaranteed good time, with laughs guaranteed.
It's a great movie that the whole family can enjoy.

It's a disney movie so don't expect too much depth and the moral is always the same, but it's not too "in your face",which makes the whole experience enjoyable.

I whole-heartedly recommend this movie.

Girls in this movie are portrayed as underdogs struggling against stupid boy bullies. It's a pretty way to boy-bash and promote sexist stereotypes that girls are good and boys are bad..