Advanced Search Beta »
Basic Search Fields
What a Girl Wants
Metascore
41 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 27 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 27
  3. Negative: 7 out of 27
view
per page
  1. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    67
    In her sassy but scrubbed way, Bynes is a real charmer, and What a Girl Wants is a likable throwaway.
  2. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    63
    There's nothing wrong with fairy tales, but they don't have to be formulaic. A movie like this would have benefited from a blending of the fanciful and the inventive.
  3. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Angel Cohn
    60
    Bynes is a charmer who adeptly straddles the line between romantic heroine and physical comedienne, while Firth is extremely enjoyable as a befuddled father.
  4. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Clint Morris
    60
    While this is far from an avant-garde, ingenious flick, it uses a dependable formula that’ll definitely deliver.
  5. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Hazel-Dawn Dumpert
    60
    Strictly for budding young ladies, though it does offer those who've already bloomed the grown-up pleasures of Firth, a great actor who graciously invites you to join him in the slow-burn romantic corner into which he's rapidly painting himself.
  6. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    60
    It's a tame, hypocritical fantasy.
  7. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    60
    Works well enough. It has a decided plus in its appealing young star, Amanda Bynes, last seen opposite Frankie Muniz in "Big Fat Liar."
  8. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Dave Kehr
    60
    Minnelli's comedy had its serious underpinnings: by the end of the film, a girl had become a woman. By the end of Ms. Gordon's film, the girl is still a girl, but a girl with much cooler stuff, including a stately home, a butler and a cute British boyfriend.
  9. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: William Arnold
    58
    It's mostly forced and predictable, too much of the physical comedy falls very flat.
  10. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    50
    It's slick girlie stuff, but the cast makes it go down easy.
  11. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    50
    The movie is clearly intended for girls between the ages of 9 and 15, and for the more civilized of their brothers, and isn't of much use to anyone else.
  12. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Connie Ogle
    50
    It's a cheery, impossible fantasy.
  13. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    50
    Harmless, fish-out-of-water fluff.
  14. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Karen Heller
    50
    Designed as the ideal confection to attract a young girl or teen, What a Girl Wants will more likely hook their mothers.
  15. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Janice Page
    50
    It's not that What a Girl Wants is dreadful; it's merely slapdash, wildly inconsistent in tone and style, and mind-numbingly predictable in character and plot.
  16. Variety
    Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
    50
    It feels much more like a shameless reshuffle of "The Princess Diaries."
  17. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    50
    Pleasant bubblegum romp, which was inspired by the old Sandra Dee picture "The Reluctant Debutante."
  18. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Kimberley Jones
    40
    Instantly forgettable but good-natured all the same.
  19. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Anya Kamenetz
    40
    A culture-shock/daddy-meets-girl romantic comedy, WAGW is a sanitized adventure for the Mary Kate-and-Ashley set.
  20. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: Gregory Weinkauf
    40
    Very sketchily based upon "The Reluctant Debutante" (minus the charm, plot, and characterization).
  21. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Robert K. Elder
    38
    Were it not for young star Amanda Bynes' energetic good nature in the face of drab dialogue and wooden stereotypes, What a Girl Wants might have been a career-ending movie violation rather than just an embarrassing fender-bender.
  22. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Chris Kaltenbach
    38
    Movie lite, a clueless, formulaic paint-by-numbers comedy.
  23. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    30
    It's uninspired and insipid all the way.
  24. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    25
    If the Warner Bros. wizards have it right, what a girl wants is to see as much of Amanda Bynes as she possibly can...It's not so great for the rest of us, since the film has nothing else to offer.
  25. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jami Bernard
    25
    Irritating wish-fulfillment movie.
  26. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Edward Guthmann
    25
    Dreadful teen comedy with a "Cinderella" theme.
  27. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    20
    Young audiences may welcome this movie, but girls, and boys, should want more.
    All this critic's reviews
prev next
Page:
  • 1

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.2 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 28 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 20
  3. Negative: 6 out of 20
  1. ReviewCritic
    2
    A horrible teenage flick that is only good for a certain audience: otherwise What A Girl Wants fails. I guess I can say this movie is What A Girl Wants, but not what anyone else wants.… Full Review »
  2. JaniceP.
    10
    I would recommend this movie to everyone to watch. there were happy and sad moments and it reaches out to the young and the old. The cast is incredible especially Amanda Bynes and Colin Firth.… Full Review »
  3. clay
    3
    Lame. total copy off Cinderella, and not even in a clever way. good film if you love stereotypes though.
See all user reviews »