Verdict: Though potentially drowse-inducing for grown-ups, this is a teen girl's dream romp through pretty postcard settings and pretty, passionate first love.

By MELINDA ENNIS
Cox News Service

The 13-year old girls who will dominate the audience for "Chasing Liberty" are too young to appreciate that it's sort of a slacker version of the Audrey Hepburn classic "Roman Holiday." Instead, they will just enjoy a good wallow in adolescent dreams of romance. But for the rest of us, it's better to forget the glorious original and try to appreciate this slight successor for the scenery, which includes Prague, Berlin, London and Venice.

Like a modern-day princess, Anna Foster, played by pop singer Mandy Moore, is the privileged, pampered yet predictably frustrated daughter of the U.S. president (Mark Harmon). Feeling bound by omnipresent bodyguards who hamper her attempts to make out like a regular teen, she ditches them in a Prague disco while on a diplomatic visit with her parents. Abetting her escape and adventures is a mysterious Brit on a motorbike, Ben Calder, played by newcomer Mathew Goode, who is also very good to look at for teens Ñ and their moms. He reminds one of a younger, yummier version of Rupert Everett.

They take it on the lam from Prague to Venice, with a side trip to Austria, providing breathtaking scenery as amusement for those of us bogged down by the sappy script or trivial details such as the pair crossing country borders with no passport control.

We are also saved from teenage wasteland by the engaging appearances of Jeremy Piven ("Grosse Point Blank") and Annabella Sciorra, ("Jungle Fever"), who play Secret Service partners chasing Anna and finding a more adult romance of their own. Their intermittent presence injects some sophistication, with sensibly sexy banter that only makes us long for their story to hijack the movie.

Meanwhile, Ben and Anna continue making their way to something called the Love Parade, a huge techno-pop street party held annually in Berlin. This metaphor for their journey is about as deep as it gets.

What happens will be no surprise to those of us who have seen any romantic comedy in our entire lives. Director Andy Cadiff has filmed this pretty but prosaic piece with all the predictable plotting of the TV sitcom background from which he springs ("Home Improvement," "Spin City").

But like a royal prerogative, the cast manages to rise above the material through utter charm and beauty. Moore is charmingly cute, Goode is charmingly hunky and the aforementioned settings are charmingly romantic.

This is the kind of movie that will have viewers older than 30 mooning for the days when they were 13. But, alas, you grow up and discover that true love does not always have a London opera aria soaring in the background.

As a mother-daughter date after a Saturday shopping spree, this film is a fanciful fit. But be forewarned, it isn't just a chick flick, it's a baby chick flick. Guys will not find much to divert them except Annabella Sciorra's cleavage and Jeremy Piven's smirks.

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