Movie Review: Uptown Girls
Brittany Murphy was bogged down in downer parts. After 8 Mile, the actress badly needed to lighten up. Uptown Girls, the fluffy reverse Cinderella comedy set in New York, hit the spot with the actress. Maybe she didn't know she would be working with 2 pigs and a very precocious 9-year-old!
Molly Gunn's (Brittany Murphy), deceased rock 'n' roll icon dad left her financially secure. She's the toast of New York, getting into cool clubs and enjoying her big penthouse and cute pet pig when she finds out that the guy in charge of dad's estate has taken off with all her money. Molly had just met a hot musician named Neal Fox (Jesse Spencer) and a weird, very obnoxious little girl named Ray (Dakota Fanning). Ray is the daughter of Roma Schleine (Heather Locklear), a rock promoter trying to sign Neal.
Molly, who has never had a job in her life, has to find one. She is helped by pal Ingrid (Marly Shelton) but she's so incompetent that she's fired. Finally Huey (Donald Faison), a guy pal with a P. Diddy complex, get her a gig as a nanny and her charge is...guess who? Little Ray. Molly's relationship with Neal is rocky and he dumps her. Ray hates her but the two girls gradually start to grow on each other. Molly, actually a child herself, helps stiff, too-grown-up Ray loosen up and Ray gives Molly some responsibility. Finally, Ray's mom realizes she needs to spend some time with her kid and Molly finds a job designing clothes for rockers. Neal apologizes.
Talented little Dakota Fanning is very good in this film. Brittany shows that she could switch back to comedy again and Jesse Spencer, an Aussie import, is cute but they all deserve a more cohesive script with a more even tone. The movie shifts from pratfalls and cute pig comedy to super serious moments. Dakota's character has a dad in a coma for gosh sakes. The biggest problems with this film are that it's not sure what it is and that almost nobody is likeable! Molly is irresponsible and all over the place. Ray is really a pill although we see why and Neal doesn't know what the heck he wants. Is he a musician, true to his craft or a willing boytoy for hot record execs who can advance his career? When he finally comes back to Molly, we don't care. And what is with Molly's prim and proper pal Ingrid? These two are so totally different that we wonder how they could possibly be friends.
Moments between Dakota and Brittany seem very real and, in real life, the two are quite close. There are cute and heartwarming moments between the two in Uptown Girls but you wish the duo could be taken out of the film and placed into a better story. .
For a few bright moments, 2.5 out of 5 stars
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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.
