It was probably too much to hope that First Daughter would be about one of the Bush twins -- Jenna or Barbara. At least that would have given this cheerfully innocuous fairy tale a certain edge.
Alas, First Daughter is yet another in the long line of films geared to hopelessly romantic teenage girls which have been put into production since Princess Diaries became a hit in 2001. Actor-turned-director Forest Whitaker has even set up First Daughter like a fairy tale. It begins with "Once upon a time . . ."
It's sweet. It's cheerful. It has romance. It poses problems about young people who are trying to become their own persons, something teens can relate to. It has an empathetic performance by Katie Holmes as the daughter of the U.S. president who wants to break away from the constrictions of her White House status by enrolling at a California university far from the Beltway. It has an understanding performance by Michael Keaton as the protective, ever-watchful president who doesn't quite want to let go.
Like Chasing Liberty
But it also has pretty much the same plot as the Mandy Moore film Chasing Liberty did earlier this year, in which Moore played the president's daughter who wanted to be her own person, too. This is the poor little rich girl syndrome played out in princess terms.
Mandy's first daughter escaped her handlers during a European tour only to be swept up by a dashing young man on a motorcycle. She fell head over heels for him, but disappointingly for her it turned out he was a Secret Service agent sent to watch over her.
In First Daughter, Holmes' Samantha Mackenzie says, "I just want to be like everybody else" as she heads for a California and what she hopes will be "a normal life." She's the poor little rich girl who finds her every move photographed and commented on, including her terrible fashion sense, at least according to Joan Rivers, who knocks Samantha's taste on national TV at the start of the film.
On campus she finds herself constrained by Secret Service agents who loom behind wherever she goes. New roommate Mia Thompson (rhythm and blues singer Amerie) offers advice but is jealous of all the attention directed at Samantha.
Trying to fit in, she's hounded by the paparazzi, finally seeking refuge from her understanding dorm resident adviser, James (Marc Blucas). Soon she's drawn to him and vice versa as he helps her flee the flashbulbs. At one point they hide out in a theater showing a revival of the '50s Jayne Mansfield movie The Girl Can't Help It.
Too bad we only see brief glimpses of that film because, golly gee, most people will be way ahead of what happens next in First Daughter. Let's just leave it that things go awry in Samantha's relationship with James as they're pulled apart by circumstances and fibs.
Holmes, the star of TV's Dawson's Creek, has a sweet naturalness and unflappable poise that serve her well in First Daughter, as well as strong determination under her calm veneer. Keaton is easygoing as the father who doesn't want to let go. He comes across as very likable.
So is First Daughter. Likable, but unexceptional.
**1/2
First Daughter
Starring: Katie Holmes, Michael Keaton, Marc Blucas, Amerie.
Rated: PG, contains adult themes.
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