Rated G. 120 Minutes. Anne Hathaway, Julie Andrews, Hector Elizondo. Directed by Garry Marshall. Ok for kids 6 and up.

 In “The Princess Diaries” (2001), you’ll recall that Mia (Anne Hathaway) was a gangly girl of 15, living with her divorced mother in a converted firehouse in San Francisco. Mia suddenly learns that she’s the heir to the throne of a European country called Genovia. Under the tutelage of her grandmother, Queen Clarisse (Julie Andrews), Mia gets a royal makeover and learns how to be a princess.

Flash forward to “Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement”. Mia graduates from college in the states and is whisked off to Genovia to complete her education: Queenliness 101. But according to Genovian law, she must marry someone before she can take over the throne (apparently, they haven’t learned that women can rule countries just fine on their own, thank you very much). But the clock is ticking. Mia has one month to find her true love and claim the throne before it goes to the nephew of snarky Viscount Mabrey (John Rhys-Davies).

What’s a girl to do? Why, opt for an arranged marriage, of course. It worked for the Queen, after all. So a list of suitable mates is reviewed and the royal team settles on the very nice Andrew Jacoby. Of course, there’s no spark between Mia and Andrew, but they’ll work around it.

A parallel story involves Royal Security Guy Joe (Hector Elizondo), who has a thing for the Queen. Heather Matarazzo returns as Lilly Moscovitz, Mia’s best friend from San Francisco.  Tom Poston plays the stodgy Lord Palimore, and if you look closely, you’ll recognize songwriter Paul Williams as Lord Harmony.

WHAT I LIKED: I’m a sucker for a sweet story, and this is it – forget about trying to interject any real meaning into it. I couldn’t wipe the silly smile off my face through this movie, and I even shed a few tears during the heart-warming parts. It’s also a thrill to take my kids to a show and not worry about cuss-words and between-the-sheets scenes. 

Anne Hathaway is funny and beautiful, and Julie Andrews makes an elegant queen. How fun to see her sing again and take her turn at mattress surfing! And there’s just nothing bad you can say about Hector Elizondo. He’s the bomb (and he’s built a nice little niche out of butler-concierge roles in Garry Marshall films -- hey, who else could have helped Julia Roberts navigate Rodeo Drive in “Pretty Woman”?).

I won’t give away the ending (which came as a complete surprise), but let’s just say it puts a new spin on the women’s movement.

My 7-year-old daughter loved it, but we had to convince my 9-year-old son to go with us (and steer him past “Yu-Gi-Oh!” playing in the next theater). Turns out there were enough goofy characters and slapstick scenes to give him lots of laughs. Fun soundtrack, too.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE: “Princess Diaries 2” runs too long and could have done with a bit of editing in the middle. Yeah, it’s awash in a sea of saccharine, but that didn’t bother me.

THE WRAP-UP: If you need deliverance from gunfights and gore, see “Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement.” And take your kids! It probably won’t make cinematic history, but it’ll make you smile for a couple of hours, and that’s worth a jeweled tiara any day.

SCORE: 3 out of 4 Reels.

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JANE'S REEL RATING SYSTEM:

One Reel – Pathetic. Even The Force can’t save it.

Two Reels – Tolerable. Coulda been a contender.

Three Reels – Pleasant. Something to talk about.

Four Reels – Wow! The stuff dreams are made of.

E-chat with me at jane@reellifewithjane.com - I LOVE to talk about movies! For more about me, check out www.reellifewithjane.com or www.janeboursaw.com.