Uptown Girls

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Uptown Girls ★½ 2003 (PG-13)

Cloying female buddy comedy pits a ditsy, downonherluck socialite against an extremely precocious and well-off 8-year-old with annoying results. After her financial manager embezzles her inheritance, spoiled New York trust-fund kid Molly (Murphy) is forced to get a (shudder!) job. She becomes a nanny to young Ray (Fanning), who is largely abandoned by her record exec mum (Locklear in an especially unappealing performance). The two butt heads immediately, but through a series of uninspired events predictably do the role reversal bit—learning from each other how to act more their own ages. Murphy's performance is forced and just plain weird at times. Fanning holds her own against her flaky costar and dismal script. 93m/C VHS, DVD . US Brittany Murphy, Dakota Fanning, Heather Locklear, Donald Adeosun Faison, Marley Shelton, Austin Pendleton, Jesse Spencer, Polly Adams; D: Boaz Yakin; W: Mo Ogrodnik, Julia Dahl, Lisa Davidowitz; C: Michael Ballhaus; M: Joel McNeely.