First Daughter DVD Review:

After graduating High School, all Samantha (Holmes) wants to go to college and have the same experiences as everyone else. This is going to be virtually impossible because of all the press and Secret Service that is going to be following her around, constantly watching her every move. Samantha isn’t an ordinary girl you see, she is the daughter of the President of the United States.

With the film posing the question ‘What would it be like to be the son or daughter of the most power person in the world?’ the answer is ‘are we really bothered?’

The whole premise of the movie is that Samantha wants to be able to live a normal life. The role of first daughter wasn’t something that she applied for and didn’t even want to do, so the storyline for the movie implies that we should feel sorry for her situation. At first this is fair enough. The thought of the press and Secret Service watching and scrutinising your every move and following you everywhere you go, would probably be everyone’s worst nightmare but as the film progresses and you see her attending state luncheons, looking fabulous in evening gowns and mixing with foreign dignitaries, she looks like she is rising to the occasions. This really doesn’t endear you to her situation.

Katie Holmes has always been a very likeable actress with that girl-next-door vibe that served her so well in ‘Dawson’s Creek’. After trying some more interesting roles in films like ‘Wonderboys’, ‘The Gift’ and ‘Pieces of April’, the part of Samantha sees her return to her roots. She is an average girl, who just happens to be the daughter of the President of the United States and this is a role that she can shine in, it’s just a shame that the script doesn’t really give her that chance. The while the premise has scope for many an amusing romantic comedy moment, there is absolutely nothing new here to advance the rom-com genre and really make use of Katie’s talents.

The supporting cast also don’t have anything new to do. Marc Blucas is just there for eye-candy for the ladies. Michael Keaton is seriously underused as the President. Amerie Rogers is Samantha’s roommate Mia, in a role that is very clichéd as she becomes jealous of all the attention that Samantha is getting.

‘First Daughter’ is a missed opportunity. With an imaginative premise that had a lot of scope for romantic comedy highjinx, the film just doesn’t live up to the potential or even get the most out of its stars. You’d expect more from actor/director Forrest Whittaker as well.

Star Rating = * *

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Widescreen 1.85:1 Anamorphic with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the transfer is good.

BONUS FEATURES

Deleted & Extended Scenes (2.37 mins)

Entitled ‘Sam’s Appointment’ and ‘Dancing at the bar’ these two deleted and extended scenes suffer from the lack of an introduction or commentary to explain why they were removed.

Featurette: Fox Trot (5.23 mins)

Choreographer Miranda Garrison and stars Katie Holmes, Marc Blucas and Michael Keaton take you behind the scenes of the cast learning to dance. The short featurette shows how the cast prepared for the Fox Trot and how Kate Holmes practiced for her nightclub table dance debut.

Featurette: The Final Score: Remembering Michael Kamen (5.45 mins)

Co-Composer Blake Neely remembers the career of famed composer Michael Kamen, who said passed away before completing the score for ‘First Daughter’.

Trailers
Previews of ‘Robots’ and ‘The Magic Roundabout’.

OVERALL

For a 20th Century Fox DVD release this is very disappointing. Even though the film didn’t do that well at the box office, this usually doesn’t deter Fox from giving the film a good DVD treatment but this release is the exception to their rule. The featurettes are very short, the two deleted scenes have no commentary or introduction and the film lacks a commentary track of its own. This is a very average release for a very average film.



Jamie Kelwick