In case it's literally been nearly 20 years since you've seen this movie — or you've never seen it, but you don't want to miss out again — here's the set-up.
Teenager Daphne (a young, not-yet-broken-by-Hollywood Amanda Bynes) grew up in New York with her mom Libby (Kelly Preston, sadly one of the actors we lost in 2020). Every year on Daphne's birthday, Libby tells her the story of her whirlwind romance and possible Bedouin wedding with Daphne's dad, Henry (Colin Firth).
Sadly for the couple, Henry is an English Lord. After he inherits his dad's title, Henry has to give up his desert-trekking ways and settle into his family's boring life of stuffy mansions, servants ,and the right to sit in the House of Lords. Meanwhile, Libby is deemed too free-spirited and American by Henry's advisors, especially acerbic Alistair (Jonathan Pryce). She's forced to leave for the sake of Henry's public image, and raises Daphne on her own.
However, when Daphne turns 17, she travels to England and tracks down Henry, who has given up his hereditary seat in the House of Lords and is running for election to the House of Commons (as a Tory, naturally).
Daphne and Henry start a tentative relationship, bonding over his secret love of cool music, Coco Pops, and motorbikes. But the pressure to live up to the expectations of British high society — regattas, garden parties with the Queen, endless debutante balls — makes Daphne feel just as trapped as Libby did. She has to decide if she's willing to give up her free-spirited ways for her father, while Henry has to decide if he wants to keep his reputation or his daughter.
