Filles de bonne famille

This just goes to show you that you shouldn't go into movies with preconceptions, because I went in expecting (hoping, even) to hate this movie, and did for a while, but somewhere along the way it started working on me, and by the end I was practically eating out of its hand.

Molly Gunn (Brittany Murphy) is the rich, immature, hard-partying daughter of a deceased rock star, but when she loses all her money and belongings, she has to take a job as the nanny to a rich little girl named Ray (Dakota Fanning). Ray is very young, but acts like an uptight 45 year-old woman, because she's been ignored by her cold, socialite mother (a "Melrose Place"-ish Heather Locklear).

Both of these characters, but especially little Ray, are entirely fantasy creations. I don't care how self-sufficient she's had to be, no single-digit kid is going to act like this all the time and speak this kind of dialogue.

What makes the movie work is the actors. Murphy is a very likeable actress and with her mixture of raspy sexuality and innocent flakiness, I can't think of anyone who would have been better playing this spoiled rock princess.

And as Ray, Dakota Fanning once again shows that she is one of the absolute best child actors out there. This is the third time in a row she's been the best part of the movie she's in (the other two being the irritating "I Am Sam" and the downright hideous "Trapped"). Once her character begins to lighten up in the second half of the film, her performance really takes off.

So the story is very predictable, the dialogue often weak, and I hated the character of Molly's on-again, off-again "rock star" boyfriend (who inexplicably makes it big with a horrifyingly bad song about Egyptian cotton), but the characters played by Murphy and Fanning are a pleasure to spend time with, and that's what sold it to me.

Just rewatched this classic. Brittany Murphy was so pretty. I miss her so much.

Over the years, we've seen dozens of films labeled as chick-flicks that hold true to the same clichés, jokes and rehashed plots that have been done over and over again. After seeing a trailer for `Uptown Girls,' one would naturally think that the film would be a hopeless mesh of the same simple ideas of a lost girl or woman trying to find herself in the most unlikely of places. In all honesty, `Uptown Girls' is just that. However, it has some redeeming qualities that make it rise above its own conventional nature-it actually has an emotional depth to its characters that wouldn't occur under normal circumstances. Also, it stars Brittany Murphy and Dakota Fanning, two wonderful actresses that dazzle the screen with their very presence.

Molly (Murphy) is a woman in her mid-twenties who is completely detached from reality. Her deceased rock-star father has left her a wealth that affords her the finest apartment, friends and possessions that money can buy. However, life turns upside down for Molly when her broker skips town with all of her money. All of sudden Molly is faced with a world where everything she's been absorbed in has disappeared. Her only choice now is to get a job and start living life like a normal person. After several attempts at some of Manhattan's most elite shops, she accepts a position as a nanny for a friend's boss. But she has no idea what she's in for-a little girl named Ray (Fanning) who is completely obsessive and compulsive. What's more, she wants nothing to do with Molly. The two feel each other out and eventually start to discover that they have a great deal in common, as they are both suffering from the loss of the one's that they cared for most deeply. As such, they have both entered into their own delusional worlds that don't hold true to reality. It's up to the two to help each other out in finding a purpose in life and discovering the true beauty of friendship.

Fanning is truly the prize of `Uptown Girls.' She's an adorable young actress who can actually perform. She steals every scene she's in and the audience can't get enough of her. The moments in the film where she breaks down and cries, you get the impression that its real and this isn't acting-she has that the innate talent to become the characters that she portrays in the script marvelously. Look for her in the recent `I am Sam,' as well as in `The Cat in the Hat,' coming this November. Murphy proves once again that she is a gifted actress. I guess we can forgive her for this past winter's `Just Married,' as her track record generally shows her showing off real talent in films like `8 Mile,' and `Girl, Interrupted.' Her portrayal of Molly makes the audience feel sadness for her character, but at the same time, we can't help but feel that she is incredibly pathetic, and not in the comic sense. The most rewarding part of viewing `Uptown Girls' was how tender the film is. Murphy and Fanning come alive together and you feel their pain and the isolation that they have surrounded themselves in because of the lack of truly loving people in their lives. You walk out of the theater fond of the characters and rooting them on at the end, regardless of the film's parallels to so many others in the genre. `Uptown Girls' isn't a great movie, but it sure is something that is surprisingly likable, if not lovable. ***

Rich girl loses all her money and has to be a nanny for an uptight brat; it certainly sounds like a bad movie in the making. But actually I quite enjoyed this one. The stars are appealing, a lot of the scenes are quite funny and even though the movie is predictable and maudlin it does have scenes with a genuine emotional impact. With a script that has some intelligence and nuance and actresses who bring sincerity and belief to rather clichéd characters (child-woman and woman-child, essentially), this movie winds up being far better than it has a right to be. I feel like I have to make excuses for liking it, because it is kind of dumb, but I really very much enjoyed it.

As I say over and over again, a film doesn't have to be a work of art (that few even understand) to be a film. The keyword here is entertainment. And I thought this film was entertaining, not be confused with a work of art, or anything with a higher meaning. I could lean back and just enjoy watching the two characters change.

I thought, when I saw what a low rating it had gotten here on IMDb, that it would really stink. But the story did appeal to me. I'm glad I watched it - I give it a 7/10, just because I enjoyed watching it. So my advice: watch it, but as usual, don't expect Oscar material.