Reel Critics

Larry Nolte

The “Princess Diaries” delivers exactly what it’s supposed to. The

formula-driven screenplay has probably been done hundreds of times and

while I quietly sat there knowing what was going to happen and not being

disappointed, I realized that I’m probably just a sucker for

old-fashioned happy endings.

Anne Hathaway plays Mia, a 15-year-old teenager living with her

mother, Helen, played by Caroline Goodall. Helen, wanting to raise her

daughter with a normal childhood, has managed to keep secret from Mia the

fact that she is the daughter of the prince of Genovia. Suddenly, the

prince has died and unless Mia accepts her position as princess, the

country will be taken over by the evil baron and baroness.

Enter the grandmother, Queen Clarisse Renaldi, played radiantly by

Julie Andrews. She wants to continue the Renaldi line and begins

instructing Mia on the role of being a princess. The always reliable

Hector Elizondo plays Joe, the Queen’s assistant and maybe more than

that.

Will Mia accept her role as princess and save the country? Will she

suddenly become transformed from an ugly duckling into the most beautiful

girl on campus? Will the most popular boy at school suddenly notice and

ask her out? Will she survive the inevitable crisis that almost loses her

the crown?

While it may not be too difficult to figure out the answers to these

questions sometimes it’s nice just to sit back and let the movie take you

where you knew it was going all the time.

P.S. It’s always a pleasure to spend two hours with the wonderful

Queen Julie Andrews.

* LARRY NOLTE, 59, is a retired United Airlines employee.