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76
(500) Days of Summer
60
9
17
All About Steve
37
Amelia
53
Astro Boy
66
Bandslam
45
Box, The
61
Capitalism: A Love Story
55
Christmas Carol, A
43
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
66
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
29
Collector, The
23
Couples Retreat
80
District 9
61
Extract
39
Fame
30
Final Destination, The
34
Fourth Kind, The
60
Funny People
32
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
27
Gamer
41
G-Force
39
Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, The
46
Halloween II
73
Hangover, The
78
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
55
I Can Do Bad All By Myself
66
Informant!, The
69
Inglourious Basterds
58
Invention of Lying, The
47
Jennifer's Body
66
Julie & Julia
34
Law Abiding Citizen
33
Love Happens
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
67
Michael Jackson's This Is It
51
My Sister's Keeper
42
Orphan
28
Pandorum
63
Perfect Getaway, A
86
Ponyo![]()
35
Post Grad
48
Proposal, The
30
Saw VI
53
Shorts
24
Sorority Row
83
Star Trek![]()
33
Stepfather, The
45
Surrogates
55
Taking Woodstock
47
Time Traveler's Wife
96
Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D![]()
35
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
28
Ugly Truth, The
88
Up![]()
71
Where the Wild Things Are
67
Whip It
28
Whiteout
73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Now In Theaters
58
(Untitled)
96
35 Shots of Rum![]()
56
Adam
72
Adela
39
Adventures of Power
78
Afghan Star
61
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66
Afterschool
xx
All the Best
58
American Casino
72
Amreeka
48
Antichrist
73
Araya
62
Art & Copy
55
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76
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86
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13
Beautiful Life, A
70
Beeswax
35
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
71
Big Fan
66
Black Dynamite
51
Blind Date
xx
Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly
76
Bliss
35
Blue Tooth Virgin, The
26
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
57
Boys Are Back, The
45
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81
Bright Star![]()
70
Bronson
45
Burning Plain, The
xx
Carriers
55
Casi Divas
57
Chelsea on the Rocks
62
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
69
Cold Souls
59
Collapse
44
Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
82
Cove, The![]()
75
Crude
82
Damned United, The![]()
67
Departures
xx
Dil Bole Hadippa
71
Disgrace
xx
Do Knot Disturb
70
Earth Days
24
Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat
85
Education, An![]()
55
Endgame
xx
Eulogy for a Vampire
xx
Everyone Else
xx
Fatal Promises
56
Fifty Dead Men Walking
62
Five Minutes of Heaven
74
Flame & Citron
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
Food, Inc.
28
Free Style
xx
From Mexico with Love
50
Fuel
25
Gentlemen Broncos
50
Give Me Your Hand
58
Gogol Bordello Non-Stop
72
Good Hair
89
Goodbye Solo![]()
52
Grace
64
Harmony and Me
81
Headless Woman, The![]()
xx
Heretics, The
63
Horse Boy, The
73
House of the Devil, The
xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
74
Humpday
94
Hurt Locker, The![]()
29
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
16
If One Thing Matters: A Film About Wolfgang Tillmans
75
In Search of Beethoven
83
In the Loop![]()
61
Intimate Enemies
42
Irene in Time
70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
19
Labor Day
xx
Laila's Birthday
41
Little Ashes
41
Little Traitor, The
66
Liverpool
34
Looking for Palladin
80
Lorna's Silence
83
Maid, The![]()
xx
Ministers, The
59
More Than a Game
67
Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
xx
Mystery Team
48
New York, I Love You
73
Night and Day
66
No Impact Man
47
Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
34
Other Man, The
xx
Painter Sam Francis, The
54
Paper Heart
xx
Paradise
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
44
Peter and Vandy
35
Play the Game
77
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
xx
Pretty Ugly People
65
Providence Effect, The
76
Rembrandt's J'accuse
69
September Issue, The
79
Serious Man, A
40
Shrink
61
Skin
77
Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, A
xx
Skiptracers
46
Splinterheads
39
St. Trinian's
89
Still Walking![]()
50
Stoning of Soraya M., The
55
Storm
65
Tetro
70
That Evening Sun
72
Thirst
xx
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (re-release)
61
Trucker
xx
Turning Green
83
U2 3D![]()
66
Unmade Beds
66
Unmistaken Child
70
Visual Acoustics
55
Walt & El Grupo
67
Way We Get By, The
69
We Live in Public
64
Wedding Song, The
64
Where is Where?
xx
White on Rice
74
Woman in Berlin, A
69
World's Greatest Dad
70
Yes Men Fix the World
69
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
xx
You, the Living
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Princess Diaries, The
EMAILPRINTWalt Disney Pictures

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 27 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 49 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Family/Kids
Written by:
Meg Cabot (novel)
Gina Wendkos
Directed by: Garry Marshall
Release Date:
Theatrical: August 3, 2001
DVD: December 18, 2001
Running Time: 115 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: G for General Audiences
Starring Julie Andrews, Anne Hathaway, Hector Elizondo, Heather Matarazzo, and Caroline Goodall
Shy teenager Mia Thermopolis (Hathaway) is thrown for a loop when, from out of the blue, she learns the astonishing news that she's a real-life princess! As the heir apparent to the crown of the small European principality of Genovia, Mia begins a comical journey towards the throne when her strict and formidable grandmother, Queen Clarisse Renaldi (Andrews), shows up to give her "princess lessons." (Walt Disney Pictures)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Georgia Rule Pretty Woman Raising Helen Runaway Bride The Other Sister The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
This charming, if unnecessarily coronation-length production gets the duckling-to-swan ambivalence just right.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
This stylish Disney production is an ideal family film.
Read Full Review >USA Today Susan Wloszczyna
Isn't always perfect. But it fills an empty spot in the hearts of girls of all ages who have been pining all summer for a movie like this.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Chris Hewitt
It's such a delightful, amusing fairy tale that it leaves you wanting more.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
Entertaining and pleasing for children and parents, and not in the schizophrenic way of most kid's movies, which toss naughty in-jokes over the kiddies' heads.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Loren King
Manages to wring some originality out of its fairy-tale plot. This freshness compensates for the expected hackneyed qualities in this Cinderella tale.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
A rarity: A fun, entertaining 'G' movie.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Ed Park
A modest, enjoyable fairy tale that easily outcharms its animated stablemates of the past decade.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
Fitfully amusing comedy from director and one-time sitcom king Garry Marshall, the fantasy is alive and well among little girls of all ages.
Read Full Review >New Times (L.A.) Robert Wilonsky
This innocuous, frothy fairy tale isn't so off-putting as you might imagine, thanks in large part to Andrews' ageless charm.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Hazel-Dawn Dumpert
The director is Garry Marshall, but The Princess Diaries is no where near as nauseating a fairy tale as Marshall's "Pretty Woman."
Read Full Review >Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard
Families already know exactly what they're in for, and they're likely to leave the multiplex high on the hum of a charming cast, sunny San Francisco locations, and a suitably happy ending.
TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Fluffy, candy-colored and aimed directly at tweens -- girls between the ages of 10 and 12.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
The extent to which The Princess Diaries succeeds is the result of how pretty Hathaway at first mimics, then internalizes, Andrews' essential majesty.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jami Bernard
Prepubescent girls might get a few safe giggles while others around them are yawning.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Rita Kempley
The movie updates Disney's blueprint without altering it in any meaningful way.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Goes on much too long, stretching a modest story into a marathon that outlasts its welcome by about 30 minutes.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Joan Anderman
Unfortunately, the filmmakers seem to have forgotten that comedy is a requisite feature in a comedy.
Miami Herald Christine Dolen
If Andrews oozes regal poise and Hathaway radiates movie star allure -- and they do -- credit the actresses, not this flimsy fairy tale.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
Occasionally funny but more often hackneyed, schmaltzy, predictable and overdone fairy tale that seems longer than 100 choruses of ''Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious."
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman
Critic-proof moviemaking, a candy pink wish-fulfillment fantasy prominently peppered with pubescent pop platters.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
A march through the swamp of recycled ugly duckling stories, with occasional pauses in the marsh of sitcom cliches and the bog of Idiot Plots.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
Such weak medicine. Sure enough, it goes down. Keeping it down is another matter.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.1 (out of 10) based on 49 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
G.M. D.K. gave it a9:
Who wouldnt like this witty G-rated comedy? People who thought "The Lord of the Rings" was the worst movie ever.
Pat C. gave it a3:
Another inspired premise emphasizing human worth and beauty pre-digested by the formula police into a putrid swill of Hollywood vomit.
Jamie C. gave it a 10:
This movie is so cute and fun! i loved it! it is the perfect movie for anyone, not just kids. this deserves 5 stars!
Spawn gave it a 0:
Will H. you da man cause that movie sukced. The quaurtet has been finished. The four worst movies ever a Confessions of a teenage drama queen, 13 going on 30, Princess diaries 2 and this!
Will H. gave it a 1:
Where was the swearing and sexual innuendos?!?! Seriously, this movie was terrible. How any particular group of people, including 10 year old girls, can sit through movies like this astounds me.
Chad S. gave it a 5:
Unless you're a nine-year old girl, the hunting of the future Princess Mia of Genovia by an overeager press, puts a serious damper on "The Princess Diaries", with the death of Princess Diana still relatively fresh in our minds. At the beach, a kiss is transformed by the print and broadcast media into a scandal. This is when "The Princess Diaries" starts to falter, because the public life that greets Mia when she finally ascends to the throne, is too much reality for this fantasy film to suppress. Before we reach this impasse, the seen-it-before swan lessons that Queen Clarisse (Julie Andrews) imparts to her granddaughter is handled nicely, and Heather Matarazzo, as Mia's best friend, livens potentially boring girl-girl rap sessions, because she's real. Matarazzo can't simply change her hair, pluck an eyebrow here and there, and emerge as a princess. Matarazzo's genuine geek factor helps make Anne Hathaway's cloaking of her hotness possible. "The Princess Diaries" feels dated, since most girls would rather be a supermodel.
Sophe gave it a 10:
I loved the movie!
