Review and news hub for movies, music and video games

Movie:		5.0
Picture:		3.0
Sound:		4.0
Extras:		3.0
Score:		5.0

Director(s):	Allison Liddi
Writer(s):	Annie DeYoung
Starring:	Demi Lovato • Jamie Chung • Nicholas Braun • Selena Gomez • Tom Verica
Genre:	Children & Family • Comedy
Website:	http://tv.disney.go.com/disneychannel/originalmovies/princessprotectionprogram/
Release Date:	June 30, 2009
Rated:

List Price:	DVD - $17.49
Amazon:

Princess Protection Program stars tween sensations and real-life best friends -- excuse me, BFFs -- Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato. Gomez plays a 16-year-old girl named Carter, who lives in Louisiana with her father and works at a bait shop, and Lovato is Rosalinda, the princess and reigning-queen-to-be of a fictional Spanish island called Costa Luna. Carter's father happens to be a secret service agent who's assigned to protect Rosalinda, and when the tyrannical leader of a neighboring nation stages a coup during her coronation rehearsal, he is forced to enlist Rosalinda in the titular Princess Protection Program, and to take her to Louisiana where her safety will be assured. As fate and convenient plot twists would have it, the two girls clash at first, but before we hit the feature-length mark you can bet they'll be the bestest of friends. They pick up one another's habits along the way, not always for the better; Rosie teaches Carter to be graceful and dignified, and Carter teaches Rosie that it's important to work for your money. She also teaches her how to burp, informing her that it's something most American teenagers know how to do since the third grade. So you can see how this makes for fine, high-minded entertainment. But I digress.

See, Carter is a tomboy because she has a boy's name and wears jeans, and Rosie is a princess because she wears pretty dresses and speaks softly. Two "perfect girl" archetypes falling on opposite sides of the spectrum; the girl you can bring along to hang out with your buddies and shoot hoops with and the one who will do the cooking and blush and be really good with your parents. It's not really the most feminist-friendly message in the world, especially considering the fact that the princess model is ultimately decided to be the ideal -- I mean, why can't the perfect girl be an amalgam of the two? Or even exist completely outside of the boundaries of such blatant stereotypes? -- but then again, this is Disney we're talking about. The same people who have been giving us the same damsel-has-a-happy-ending-but-not-without-her-prince-story for years. At least Gomez's character veers from the standard, and when her beloved Prince Douchebag finally gives her the time of day (after she puts on a pretty dress, mind you), she tells him off. Nonetheless, even though the girls happily run off into the proverbial sunset at the end of the film, it's only after Carter gives up her tomboyish ways and succumbs to the way of the princess. Princess Protection Program sends a semi-sincere, if somewhat muddled, message.

Now, normally I have no qualms about ragging on kids movies and the usually mediocre talents of their characters. But honestly, it's kind of hard to hate them. (That is, until you watch the behind the scenes footage, but more on that later.) Both Gomez and Lovato are pretty decent actresses for their age, and considering the script they had to work with, I'd say that being able to muster up any sense of emotion is quite a feat. They also lack that snotty sense of entitlement that so many stars their age seem to exude as naturally as they exhale. I won't name names, but you get the idea. But who knows, maybe they're just better at hiding that sort of thing. In which case they are very good actresses.

DVD Bonus Features

The "Royal & Loyal BFFs" segment consists of Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato hanging out on the set talking about their favorite "rock" musicians ("Paramore, the Jonas Brothers...") and boys they find dreamy. I'd skip over these segments unless you're really curious about how many scoops of frozen yogurt Selena Gomez can put away in a single sitting. (I think the answer was around 9.) Seriously? Does anybody actually care about this stuff? In addition to the inanity, there's a mini-documentary called "A Royal Reality" where a real-life princess talks about her princess-y duties. There's also a music video featuring both girls.