Good watch, would watch again, and can recommend.

This feels like a trope, but I'm honestly not sure if "surprise, you're royal" is a trope. Making up a country for this also feels like a special sub-trope.

What I'm sure is a trope is the "She's All That" where you have a clumsy, homely girl that you turn into a beautiful, graceful desirable.

The fun of cultures clashing between America and "Genovia" is fun, and a family reuniting is touching, but all the high school girl drama, all the flavors, is overdone and boring. I understand it is needed to develop Mia as a character with which we empathize, but there have to be better ways to establish a character. Unfortunately, we would lose quite a lot by speeding it up, so I get it.

While this movie doesn't do much special, it's equally good from start to finish, and reliably so.

Based on a novel of the same name, the premise of **The Princess Diaries** is certainly intriguing enough. A coming-of-age Cinderella story with a twist -- Cinderella is not the damsel in distress. She's comfortable in her own awkward shy teenager shell.

The film has all the ingredients of a successful film. And the film was wildly successful. It has a dream team of cast where everyone is as perfectly cast as they can be, starting with **Julie Andrews** as the queen and **Anne Hathaway** in her breakthrough debut as Mia. Directed by the veteran of Cinderella films **Garry Marshall** (_Pretty Woman_), the film was a low risk bet for Walt Disney.

For the intended audience (young and preteen girls), the film hits all the right notes. Mia's transformation scene is easily the highlight of the film, and it is very effective and well shot.

Yet, the film just didn't work for me. The movie is just all too familiar and predictable. The scene where Mia discovers her heritage carries surprisingly very little revelation and reactions. And the climax just didn't arouse warm reaction it intended to generate. Worse of all, there are just too many cliched and cringe inducing scenes.

All in all, the film is worth casual family viewing. But for me, the strong cast and competent direction couldn't overcome weak screenplay.

It goes on for a bit too long, but 'The Princess Diaries' is just about a good film.

Anne Hathaway (Mia) is the star no doubt, she's the only character I'll likely remember from this 2001 production. Julie Andrews (Clarisse) is decent too, while Héctor Elizondo (Joe) is extremely likeable in his role. There's also a (incredibly) small appearance from 'The Walking Dead' alum Karl Makinen.

I found the plot a little tedious to watch in parts, not helped by a few cringey gags. I also, in live-action/non-fantasy films, always find it difficult to believe in fictional places - in this case "Genovia". It's a small gripe of mine. Anyway, I do of course appreciate and rate the overall message of the film.

Overall, when all is said and done, I did narrowly enjoy watching this. The main reason being Hathaway, but also the moral of the story.