‘Uptown Girls’ is superficial romp

Evan Marmol

“Uptown Girls” follows the banal formula of making indigence appear

to be edifying and merely a simple detour to happiness and success.

The exquisite Brittany Murphy stars as Molly Gunn, a girl born

with a silver spoon in her mouth that is summarily ripped out when

she is bilked by her manager for all of her worldly possessions.

Robbed of the trapping of opulence she is forced to venture into the

working world for survival. This querulous brat becomes the nanny for

Ray (Dakota Fanning), an equally neurotic and spoiled 8-year-old

whose mother puts her career as a record company executive ahead of

her family.

These two jaded princess quickly engage in a dominance struggle,

of which the child is often the champion. This ruckus and mischief is

reminiscent of Home Alone at times, and does serve as trite but

humorous interludes in a dowdy flick with little more to offer.

As the relationship between the two blossoms the audience interest

wanes. It quickly becomes a weary coming of age story that is

predictably formulaic. The plot is hardly cogent and the characters

are superficially developed. It is also challenging to commiserate

with the prom queen gone poor, begging the question as to who was the

target demographic.

There are endearing moments strewn about this waste of celluloid,

but not nearly enough to merit a trip to the theater.

‘Boss’ Daughter’ new coffin nail for Kutcher

“My Boss’ Daughter” is a stilted, fatuous attempt at capitalizing

off of the waning moments of Ashton Kutcher’s 15 minutes of fame. As

one of the most threadbare films of the season Kutcher involves

himself with the stunning Tara Reid, when cliched after cliched

mishap plague his attempts and this thoroughly tepid film.

This flick is rife with lowbrow, crass and crude humor in an

attempt to carry a thin and uninspired plot. “My Boss’ Daughter” is

the puerile type of movie that latches on to the flavor of the week

and hopes that the star power will attract the fans. Tara Reid is as

radiant as ever, but unforgivably flat opposite of Kutcher. They both

appear lost and disinterested in the entire film.

This film is too childish to beguile adults and too lurid to

recommend to children. In a nutshell, there appears to be no target

audience because this movie cannot reasonably appeal to any patron.

* EVAN MARMOL is Laguna Beach resident. He graduated from UC

Irvine with a degree in psychology and social behavior.