Uptown Girls (2003)
Directed by Boaz Yakin
Written by Allison Jacobs
Starring Brittany Murphy, Dakota Fanning, Marley Shelton, Donald Faison, Heather Locklear
Release Date August 15th, 2003
Published August 15th, 2003
Much like Heath Ledger, Brittany Murphy is a star who was seemingly thrust upon us by the Hollywood-marketing machine. Ever since her debut as the sweetly naive makeover victim in Clueless, Murphy seemed destined for years of best friend supporting roles, and maybe a television career. Somewhere along the line that changed and Hollywood decided she would be a star. The first test of that stardom is the slight girl-power comedy Uptown Girls co-starring true star in the making Dakota Fanning.
In Uptown Girls, directed by Remember The Titans Boaz Yakin, Murphy is Molly Gunn. Molly is the trust fund party girl daughter of a dead rock star. With millions in the bank and an accountant paying the bills, Molly's life is filled with clubbing and sleeping. Molly did attend college but has never held a job. That all changes when Molly's accountant runs off with her millions, leaving her nothing.
Molly is forced to move in with friends, first her stuck up prissy best friend Ingrid (Marley Shelton) and then her non-threatening male best friend Huey (Donald Faison). Molly must also get a job for the first time in her life, which Huey helps her out getting. He sets her up in a job working as a nanny for a precocious 8- year old named Ray (Dakota Fanning). Ray is the daughter of a record company executive (Heather Locklear in a cameo), who doesn't want a nanny. Ray is the strangest 8-year old on the planet, neurotic on par with Woody Allen, a neat freak, and fan of classical music.
What do you bet that Molly's wild child will have conflict with Ray's orderly clean lifestyle? Not the most original premise and not the most original script either. This puts the onus on Murphy and Fanning to carry the film through it's dull familiarity. Neither actress sadly is up to that task. Both actresses work very hard but the strain shows in scenes of treacle sentimentality.
These problems should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the work of director Boaz Yakin who is one of the rare directors who aspires to mediocrity. His goal is the mid range. He goes for smiles where better directors go for laughs and melodrama where better directors go for actual drama. His Remember The Titans was a blockbuster that got better reviews than it deserved thanks to the charisma and talent of Denzel Washington. That film was stuffed with every sports movie cliche imaginable and topped of with more melodrama than daytime TV. The same could be said of Uptown Girls, though thankfully without the sports.
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