Uptown Girls Movie Review:


Brittany Murphy has always been an enigma to me. Here you have a young funny actress who has a very quirky and off-setting screen charisma. She is difficult to cast unless you put her in a role that pushes her to the extremes. Casting agents are often confused when casting Murphy. So instead of finding a place for her, why not make a film that is her. “Uptown Girls” is that vehicle. This is all Brittany Murphy is.

Murphy plays rich socialite Molly Gunn, who lives off a trust fund set-up by her deceased rock-n-roll parents. Molly lives within a fairy-tale world which a lot of her friends don’t understand. When Molly’s trust fund magically disappears and she is kicked out of her apartment, Molly is forced to find a job to survive. Being who Molly is that is sooner said than done.

Molly tries living with overly-secure best friend Ingrid (“ex-It Girl” Marley Shelton) and friend who happens to be a player, Huey (“Clueless” co-star Donald Adeosun Faison) but eventually wears out her welcome.

Huey eventually sets Molly up with a nanny job. Molly’s ward is 8-year-old Ray Schleine, who is extremely uptight sees the world more through a 40-year olds eyes than the innocence of a child. Can these two displaced girls stand each other? How will their relationship affect themselves and the people around them?

“Uptown Girls” is basically an exploration of Brittany Murphy through the lens of a saccharine induced family comedy. There is plenty of ways we can compare Molly Gunn to her alter ego Brittany Murphy. The reason Murphy is so good in this role is that she seems to be playing herself. She is either an amazing actress or just being herself. Murphy is the centre of this piece and probably the only thing going for it.

Young upstart Dakota Fanning is strong but very rigid as Ray. I like how much substance this little actress has but here it seems muffled into the straight role to Murphy’s goofiness. Fanning is a wonderful little actress but wasted here.

It was sad to see Marley Shelton reduced to the “Martha-wanna-be” best friend in this film. Two years ago, Hollywood wanted her to be the next Sarah Michelle Gellar but with being cast in some of the worst films in the past three years, including “Bubble Boy” and “Valentine”, Shelton has fallen. She was amazing in “On the Borderline”, “Lured Innocence” and “Just a Kiss”. It is a shame.

The other co-stars play the same old roles they have played hundreds of times. Donald Faison continues his streak of clichéd wild man buddy roles and Heather Locklear pulls on her “Melrose Place” face as the “icy cold” mother of Dakota.

I can’t say there was much about this film I liked. The script is dull and the characters even more so. There are a few laughs but for the most part I just wanted to yawn.

All I can say is that for fans of Brittany Murphy this is a must see. This film is tailor-made for her but not much else.

(1 out of 5)

So Says the Soothsayer.

(Opens August 15)

Dean Kish

A painfully botched comedy that lays waste to a talented cast, these filmmakers try everything to make the film both zanier and sweeter ... and only end up looking desperate. Molly (Murphy) is the 22-year-old daughter of a dead rock star living on her own in Manhattan without a care in the world until her financial manager runs off with her fortune. Suddenly she needs a job and the help of her friends (Faison and Shelton). Soon she's the nanny for Ray (Fanning), a seriously smart spoiled brat whose mother (Locklear) is a workaholic record company exec. While struggling with Ray and trying to come to grips with the idea of growing up, Molly also falls for a hot young musician (Spencer) who thinks she might be bad for him.

Frankly, Molly is bad for everyone. Her careless irresponsibility is not only far-fetched and ludicrous, but it also makes her deeply unsympathetic, no matter how often the filmmakers play the orphan card. And they play it a lot. Murphy is not a bad actress, but Yakin seems to think she's the next Lucille Ball, traipsing her from one humiliation to the next pratfall without even a shred of logic (a collapsible closet in a multi-million dollar penthouse? a TV that works even though her electricity has been cut off?) It's just far too silly and corny to work on any level, and leaves us staring with disbelief at the screen. Fanning is excellent as usual, and she gets the film's only funny lines, but her character is never properly explored. While Molly must grow up, Ray is never allowed to be a little girl at all (being silly once is not childhood!). Then once the stupid physical humour has us completely annoyed the schmaltz kicks in with several Important Life Lessons slathered with weepy sentimentality. Murphy and Fanning, plus solid supporting actors like Faison, Locklear and Spencer, help make some scenes work, but the overall film is such a shocking misfire that you end up feeling sorry for them all.

Rich Cline

Rich, “IT” girl Molly Gunn (Murphy) had wanted for nothing, being the daughter of a famous dead rock star but when that constant supply of money is stolen from her, she is forced to live in the real world for the first time in her life. Desperately needing money, her friend Huey (Faison) gets her a job as a nanny for his boss’s daughter. The only problem is that 8 year-old Ray (Fanning) has gone through six nanny’s in the last month and doesn’t take kindly to having someone look after her who acts younger than she is.

Two rising young (and very young) stars combine to make a movie that is so sickly sweet that half of your teeth will have fallen out by the time you have finished watching it.

Brittany Murphy is an up and coming actress that has a lot of talent. If you watch her in “Spun” or “Don’t say a Word” you will see that when given the chance she can excel and grab your attention when she is on the screen. The problem is that for her first real lead role she has chosen a light comedy, which to be fair she has done before quite successfully, when she would have been better off with a more dramatic vehicle to showcase her talents. The last thing she wants to do is become the new face of romantic comedies as this would just be a complete waste of her dramatic gifts.

Dakota Fanning is one of the best child actresses around. If you have seen her in the TV mini series “Taken” you will know this. She is the best thing in this movie, providing a performance that is far better than the film deserves. Hopefully she will go onto bigger and better things.

The support isn’t too bad. Donald Faison basic just plays his role from Scrubs, Marley Shelton is fine as Molly’s best friend and Heather Locklear is good as the uncaring, always busy mother. Ex-Aussie Soap star Jesse Spencer’s performance as love interest Neal is dogged a very confusing accent. Is the former Neighbour supposed to be from the UK or Australia? But he does his best with a limited role and is another TV star from down under that is able to sing.

Uptown Girls is far too overly sentimental, especially at the end, to really captivate anyone but its target teenage girl audience. What we end up with is an extremely average movie that is a real disappointment because of the young, upcoming talent involved deserve a lot better.

Star Rating = * *

Jamie Kelwick

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