"Living isn't worth it if you're not gonna have fun!" declares bubbly 22-year-old Molly. "Fundamentals are the building blocks of fun" responds sagelike 8-year-old Ray. In "Uptown Girls" they form a two-girl duo, with Molly showing Ray how to be a child and Ray instructing Molly in the ways of adult responsibilities. For starters, Ray tells her to "act your age, not your shoe size." (Snide bon mots come out of Ray's mouth like well-aimed spit balls.) But Molly is more adept at losing her shoes and walking home barefoot through the streets of Manhattan on cutely pedicured feet.
"Uptown Girls" is a cinematic lollipop, dusted with pink sugar. Take a lick and brace yourself for a violent hit of sweetness. The director is Boaz Yakin, whose debut feature, "Fresh" (1994), depicted the shrewdness of a 10-year-old Brooklyn drug dealer trying to outsmart the predatory adults around him and reclaim his own life. A decade later, Yakin is portraying pouting princesses who rhapsodize on the merits of Egyptian cotton sheets. Is this, like, progress?
Still, entertainment is to be found if you view "Uptown Girls" as a collision of two rich-girl personalities. Molly (Brittany Murphy) is the pampered orphan heiress to her late rock-star dad's many millions. Her swank midtown condo features crimson walls, discarded thongs draped over wire bird-cages and her dad's vast guitar collection. And she would have continued being the irresponsible "girlie to end all girlies," if not for the fact that one day her accountant makes off with her trust fund and she's left destitute, faced with the prospect of having to find a way to make money.
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