This was a fun movie to watch. For ages, we have enjoyed the rags-to-riches story, such as Cinderella, but almost as engaging is a riches-to-rags story like this. In this movie, it's satisfying, on the one hand, to see Kimberly, our spoiled little rich princess, taken down a peg or two. But it's also satisfying to see her freed from her golden cage and finally able to experience a normal life and establish normal relationships with normal people and not just sycophants who only like her for her money. The saying "Money can't buy happiness" may be cliche, but it's also very true. You need only read headlines about the messed up lives of some of the rich and famous to realize that. It was great to see Kimberly learn that valuable lesson.
The performances in this movie were good especially Anna Hutchison as Kimberly. She was cute, warm, sensitive, and she made you like her in spite of her faults. She lit up the screen in every scene she was in. Jonathan Patrick Moore as her love interest Michael was good too. He made the character of the good-guy, single dad very believable. You truly felt for him as he tentatively approached the scary reality of falling in love again after his loss. The two of them had reasonably good chemistry.
Was it a perfect movie? No. The screenwriters made Kimberly way too nasty at the beginning. They could have toned her down a bit. Also, her transition from mean to nice was way too abrupt. There should have been a clear epiphany when she realized how truly horrible she had been, such as when she was talking to the rude customer who was buying a skateboard. I also found it unbelievable the way she was able to slip into her normal jobs as salesperson and pizza restaurant waitress with hardly a hitch. She'd never had a real job before, so you would think that she would mess up a few times before getting it right, and that could have been played up for comedic effect. The rough patches in the story are minor, however, and it's such a nice, feel-good movie that you are able to overlook them.
I'm not sure if I liked the late-movie twist, where you find out that Kimberly hadn't really lost her money, but that it was all an elaborate ruse by her mom to help her learn to be nice again. Honestly, it would have been better if they truly had lost their money and were even forced to live in a low-rent neighborhood and interact with lower-class neighbors. The apartment they lived in was way too nice. If they really wanted her to be rich again, perhaps they could have had her find a way to make money on her own, through her own talents and intelligence.
On the whole, this was a charming movie with likable characters and a good character arc for the heroine. Even if it was a bit unrealistic at times, it left you with a big smile on your face at the end.
The performances in this movie were good especially Anna Hutchison as Kimberly. She was cute, warm, sensitive, and she made you like her in spite of her faults. She lit up the screen in every scene she was in. Jonathan Patrick Moore as her love interest Michael was good too. He made the character of the good-guy, single dad very believable. You truly felt for him as he tentatively approached the scary reality of falling in love again after his loss. The two of them had reasonably good chemistry.
Was it a perfect movie? No. The screenwriters made Kimberly way too nasty at the beginning. They could have toned her down a bit. Also, her transition from mean to nice was way too abrupt. There should have been a clear epiphany when she realized how truly horrible she had been, such as when she was talking to the rude customer who was buying a skateboard. I also found it unbelievable the way she was able to slip into her normal jobs as salesperson and pizza restaurant waitress with hardly a hitch. She'd never had a real job before, so you would think that she would mess up a few times before getting it right, and that could have been played up for comedic effect. The rough patches in the story are minor, however, and it's such a nice, feel-good movie that you are able to overlook them.
I'm not sure if I liked the late-movie twist, where you find out that Kimberly hadn't really lost her money, but that it was all an elaborate ruse by her mom to help her learn to be nice again. Honestly, it would have been better if they truly had lost their money and were even forced to live in a low-rent neighborhood and interact with lower-class neighbors. The apartment they lived in was way too nice. If they really wanted her to be rich again, perhaps they could have had her find a way to make money on her own, through her own talents and intelligence.
On the whole, this was a charming movie with likable characters and a good character arc for the heroine. Even if it was a bit unrealistic at times, it left you with a big smile on your face at the end.