from Film Forum, 08/21/03Uptown Girls a lowdown comedyIn Uptown Girls, Brittany Murphy (8 Mile) stars as Molly Gunn, the daughter of a famous (and dead) rock star, who becomes the nanny for Ray, the tough-talking daughter of a music executive. Molly supposedly learns how to act like a grownup, while Ray supposedly learns how to act her age. But this comedy does not have religious press critics, or mainstream critics, laughing.
Bob Smithouser (Focus on the Family) says, "Uptown Girls is just a poorly made movie. What could've been a breezy exercise in the girls' mutual self-discovery becomes the ponderous tale of two latch-key kids moping about the hands they've been dealt."
Michael Elliott (Movie Parables) bemoans the lack of character development. "The characters do change at some point, because the formulaic script calls for it, but we never really see why or how. There are too many continuity flaws, lapses of common sense logic, and character inconsistencies to overlook."
Lisa Rice (Movieguide) calls the film "sweet and sad, accurately portraying the ache in the heart of parentless children. How wonderful it would have been if the filmmakers had shown healing through a portrayal of restoration of the father-heart of God, or even a symbolic earthly male, or someone who represented the El Shaddai, but they don't. They suggest spinning in teacups at a carnival. They show wounded girls trying to heal other wounded girls, which is sweet but an inadequate picture of God's plan for true healing."
