What a Girl Wants (2003)

Dennie Gordon Amanda Bynes (Daphne Reynolds), Colin Firth (Henry Dashwood), Kelly Preston (Libby Reynolds), Eileen Atkins (Jocelyn Dashwood), Anna Chancellor (Glynnis Payne), Jonathan Pryce (Alistair Payne), Oliver James (Ian Wallace), Christina Cole (Clarissa Payne) Daphne Reynolds has what every girl wants. This young American girl has a unique style all her own, an unconventional but loving relationship with her Bohemian mother Libby (Kelly Preston) and a future full of possibilities. But despite her remarkable promise, Daphne feels incomplete and alone. She dreams of one day meeting the father she’s never known, the man Libby loved deeply seventeen years ago, but ultimately left behind because his aristocratic family found her unsuitable. Determined to live out her fantasy of forging a storybook relationship with her long-absent dad, Daphne, on an impulse, gets on a flight to London, where she quickly discovers that her father is the high-profile politician, Lord Henry Dashwood (Colin Firth), who has controversially renounced his place in the royal succession (Daphne is 39th in line) to run for the House of Commons. Henry opens his life and his social calendar to the daughter he never knew existed, but Daphne’s appearance in his high society creates an uproar that threatens to undermine his political career. Not wanting to jeopardize his campaign for an upcoming election, Daphne stifles her naturally vibrant personality, refashions herself as a proper debutante and plunges into a whirlwind of British social events.