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First Daughter
Another in a long line of films that hopes to capture the almighty Tween
dollar; this time, sadly, without Hilary Duff! Katie Holmes stars as
Samantha Mackenzie the President’s daughter who has spent most of her
life growing up in the White House and the glare of the public eye.
Samantha is about to leave home for college and isn’t looking forward to
the prospect of a heavy security detail following her every move,
severely cramping her chance at a normal university experience. That
experience includes drinking, hanging out with her roommates and falling
in love.
First Daughter is very formulaic; Samantha learns the usual lessons
about growing up and finding love. In this case the love interest is
Marc Blucas’ James Lansome, the all American Boy who teaches Samantha
how to hang out, have fun and be “normal”. The pair is put through the
usual romantic comedy obstacle course, although despite the formulaic
plot there is a twist with Blucas’ character that I’m ashamed to say
that I didn’t see coming.
Filling out the cast is Amerie Rogers as Mia, Samantha’s sassy (aren’t
they always) roommate, who is at first annoyed at all the attention
lavished on the famous Samantha but is naturally won over in the end.
Michael Keaton plays Samantha’s father President Mackenzie who has to
come to terms with daughter blossoming into a woman and does a good job
with what little screen time he has.
Director Forrest Whitaker has done a serviceable job, even if the
fairytale style opening and closing of the film is a little too syrupy.
In the end First Daughter is an entertaining diversion that like most of
these Tween movies, isn’t going to stretch the brain too much, if at
all.
Special features include a tribute to film composer Michael Kamen who
died before the completion of his score, deleted scenes and a featurette
on ballroom dancing round out the package. |
