# Uptown Girls
**Uptown Girls** is a 2003 American comedy-drama film directed by [Boaz Yakin](https://www.edgepedia.org/boaz-yakin), starring Brittany Murphy as Molly Gunn, a spoiled rock star's daughter who must work for the first time when her inheritance is stolen, and [Dakota Fanning](https://www.edgepedia.org/dakota-fanning) as Ray Schleine, the precocious eight-year-old girl she is hired to nanny.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/62838-UPTOWN-GIRLS) • [2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0263757/) MGM Pictures released it in the United States on August 15, 2003.[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0263757/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writers | Boaz Yakin; screenplay by Julia Dahl, Mo Ogrodnik, and Lisa Davidowitz, from a story by Allison Jacobs[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/62838-UPTOWN-GIRLS) |
| Cast | Brittany Murphy (Molly Gunn), Dakota Fanning (Ray), Marley Shelton (Ingrid), Donald Faison (Huey), Jesse Spencer (Neal), Heather Locklear (Roma Schleine)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/62838-UPTOWN-GIRLS) |
| Release | August 15, 2003, wide, in the United States; distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0263757/) |
| Rating and runtime | PG-13 (sexual content, language); 92 minutes[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0263757/) |
| Box office | $11,277,367 domestic opening; $37,182,494 domestic; $44,617,342 worldwide, against a $20,000,000 budget[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0263757/) |
| Critical reception | 14% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 112 reviews; 61% audience score from more than 250,000 ratings[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/uptown_girls) |
| Alternate title | Molly Gunn[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/62838-UPTOWN-GIRLS) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Molly Gunn is the freewheeling daughter of a late rock legend and a fixture of the New York social scene, living off a large trust fund. When her accountant steals her inheritance, she is forced to get a job for the first time in her life. With help from her best friend Ingrid ([Marley Shelton](https://www.edgepedia.org/marley-shelton)) and her A&R scout friend Huey ([Donald Faison](https://www.edgepedia.org/donald-faison)), she becomes nanny to Ray Schleine (Dakota Fanning), the eight-year-old daughter of high-powered music executive Roma Schleine ([Heather Locklear](https://www.edgepedia.org/heather-locklear)). Ray is described in the production notes as a precocious, uptight child "going on 40" who is obsessed with germs and tries to control everything she can, having grown up with a revolving door of nannies and too little stability.[4](https://www.cinema.com/articles/2606/uptown-girls-production-notes.phtml)
The two teach each other how to act their age: Molly shows Ray how to be a child, while Ray instructs Molly in adult responsibilities.[5](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2004/02/25/films/film-reviews/funny-how-things-work-out/) Molly also falls for Neal ([Jesse Spencer](https://www.edgepedia.org/jesse-spencer)), a young singer who tells her he is 274 days sober and has been advised to stay celibate for his first year, a claim that turns out to be less than the truth in a [plot twist](https://www.edgepedia.org/plot-twist) involving Ray's mother Roma.[6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/uptown-girls-2003)
## Production
The story originated with producer Allison Jacobs, who was working as a receptionist at Greenestreet Films when she pitched partners John Penotti and [Fisher Stevens](https://www.edgepedia.org/fisher-stevens) her idea about the vivacious daughter of a rock star. Jacobs hired writer Julia Dahl for a first draft, and the project took about five years to develop. Jacobs drew on two inspirations: romantic comedies set in an idealized New York, such as *Breakfast at Tiffany's*, *The Goodbye Girl*, and *Annie Hall*, and her own experience babysitting a precocious little girl who continually surprised her.[7](https://www.cinema.com/articles/2607/uptown-girls-starting-gunn.phtml)
Director Boaz Yakin was best known at the time for the gritty drama *[Fresh](https://www.edgepedia.org/fresh-1994-film)* (1994), and producer John Penotti acknowledged he was not an obvious choice for the material. Yakin read the script to give input as a writer, fell in love with the character, and after making *Remember the Titans* told Greenestreet he wanted *Uptown Girls* to be his next film.[7](https://www.cinema.com/articles/2607/uptown-girls-starting-gunn.phtml) The production team included cinematographer Michael Ballhaus, production designer Kalina Ivanov, editor David Ray, costume designer Sarah Edwards, and composer Joel McNeely.[4](https://www.cinema.com/articles/2606/uptown-girls-production-notes.phtml)
Molly's pet pig, Mu, was played by a Vietnamese Pot Bellied pig named Springer, trained to work in a harness and leash. Animal action was monitored through the American Humane Society's No Animals Were Harmed program, and the production received a Modified Certification.[8](https://www.americanhumane.org/production/uptown-girls/)
## Reception
The film opened in wide release on August 15, 2003, grossing $11,277,367 domestically in its opening and finishing with $37,182,494 in the United States and $44,617,342 worldwide against a $20,000,000 budget.[2](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0263757/)
Critical response was largely negative. Rotten Tomatoes records a 14% Tomatometer from 112 reviews, with a critics consensus that the film "fails to charm," while audiences gave it 61% from more than 250,000 ratings.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/uptown_girls) Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called the plot predictable but found that the film worked when it turned serious, praising Fanning's "stellar presence" and citing a spinning teacup ride at [Coney Island](https://www.edgepedia.org/coney-island) as a deft metaphor for the state of mind Molly and Ray discover they share.[9](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-aug-15-et-uptown15-story.html) Roger Ebert, the [Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-sun-times) critic who won the [Pulitzer Prize](https://www.edgepedia.org/pulitzer-prize) for criticism in 1975, gave the film a warmer reading, writing that the screenplay rotates the formulaic material "into a slightly darker dimension" and that Ray is "anything but another cookie-cutter little movie girl."[6](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/uptown-girls-2003)
## Afterlife
In the decades after release, the film has been revisited more favorably by audiences, particularly following Brittany Murphy's death in December 2009. A 2026 Tom's Guide feature described it as a "comfort-watch classic" whose emotional chemistry between Murphy and Fanning has given it a lasting following despite the 14% critics' score.[10](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/prime-video/prime-video-just-got-a-14-percent-rotten-tomatoes-disaster-trashed-by-critics-now-its-a-2000s-classic) The film remains available on streaming services including Prime Video.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/uptown_girls)
## References
1. [Uptown Girls (2003), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/62838-UPTOWN-GIRLS)
2. [Uptown Girls (2003), Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0263757/)
3. [Uptown Girls, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/uptown_girls)
4. [Uptown Girls: Production Notes, Cinema.com](https://www.cinema.com/articles/2606/uptown-girls-production-notes.phtml)
5. [Funny how things work out, The Japan Times (February 25, 2004)](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2004/02/25/films/film-reviews/funny-how-things-work-out/)
6. [Uptown Girls movie review, RogerEbert.com (August 15, 2003)](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/uptown-girls-2003)
7. [Uptown Girls: Starting Gunn, Cinema.com](https://www.cinema.com/articles/2607/uptown-girls-starting-gunn.phtml)
8. [Uptown Girls, American Humane Society](https://www.americanhumane.org/production/uptown-girls/)
9. [Role reversal drives predictable 'Girls', Los Angeles Times (August 15, 2003)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-aug-15-et-uptown15-story.html)
10. [Prime Video just got a 14% Rotten Tomatoes disaster trashed by critics. Now, it's a 2000s classic, Tom's Guide](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/prime-video/prime-video-just-got-a-14-percent-rotten-tomatoes-disaster-trashed-by-critics-now-its-a-2000s-classic)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2003 to 2004 › Titles M to Y*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license