First Daughter - Date mit Hindernissen

Katie Holmes plays the president's daughter who decides to go to a normal college to have a normal college experience.

There she has to contend with room mates, drink, overly tight security, her father's presidential campaign and, of course, a boy.

As you probably expect this is wholesome light weight fodder with not too many shocks.

What is unusual is the amount of love and professionalism put into this.

Despite its rather whimsical premise the story is very lean and structured - performances are good and production is solid.

Nobody working on this expected it to win any Oscars but it is nice to see people put the effort in.

The result is a charming, fun Sunday afternoon movie that is much better than a lot of the other grandiose movies surrounding it on Netflix.

The plot itself - about the First daughter who went to College in Carlifornia, far away from the White House, in order to be normal and meet friends may be cliché. Yet the movie on the whole can still hand out nice surprises every now and then. Katie Holmes has a unique face and looks intelligent enough to want to be independent as well as not to disappoint the First family. More importantly, Marc Blucas (her love interest) is not like the stereotyped Prince Charming for a teenager. At least he also looks sophisticated and mature and gives a strong case why the first daughter would fall for him. The two make an attractive couple and are on the same wavelength when they share the views on science etc.

The twist in the movie, at least I didn't see it coming, is good. Considering how many such plots have appeared on screen, I must say this one at least is not as predictable and does give me some credibility as a story about real people. The President and First Lady are not given a significant part here. The young couple already is a good reason to watch the movie. The love songs that accompanied the ball room dances are pleasant and well-chosen. If "monster-in-law" is rated 5 out of 10 here (last time I check), then "the First Daughter" deserves at least a 6.5 or 7, for its creativity and credible performance by the leading couple.

I also hope that Marc Blucas has great roles in future movies for his refreshing looks and performance.

Samantha Mackenzie (Katie Holmes) has always been a sweet proper girl and the only daughter of the President (Michael Keaton). She is going off to college and the strict Secret Service protection doesn't always fit. She falls for student James Lansome (Marc Blucas). However the president is in his re-election campaign and James isn't who she thinks he is.

It's always odd to note that this was directed by Forest Whitaker, but he seems to like these light rom-coms. And this is the lightest of rom-com especially in the first half. Katie Holmes is playing a stiff character and isn't allowing the comedy to come through. The movie does improve slightly with the twist for about 15 minutes, but then it falls apart with a flat unimpressive ending.

Samantha Mackenzie (Katie Holmes), the daughter of President Mackenzie (Michael Keaton) and his wife Melanie (Margaret Collin), decides to go to college in California during his tough campaign for reelection. She requests a reduced secret service protection trying to act normal with her new mates, including her roommate Mia Thompson (Amerie), and she falls in love for James Lansome (Marc Blucas). When her security is threatened, she discloses the real identity of James and decides to return home to support her family in the election process.

In spite of having a good cast with great performances, "First Daughter" has a very silly and shallow screenplay that does not help the actors and the actresses. The story aims to expose the "tough life" of a young woman because she is the daughter of the president of the USA, but actually shows a futile, spoiled and overprotected teenager with a weak personality having a luxurious and banal lifestyle. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "A Filha do Presidente" ("The Daughter of the President")

Despite it being an interesting concept, it was quite poorly executed. While the plot twist did make it more interesting, little care was given to the 'solution' of the issue in the film,making the conclusions that the characters come to seem abrupt and out of place. Furthermore, I simply could not see any chemistry between the couple at all, making it hard to root for them.