Samantha MacKenzie is the only child of U.S. President John MacKenzie. Due to her father's political career, she has been in the public eye her entire life and spent most of her high school years in the White House. Having to deal with a lack of privacy and public scrutiny for the most ridiculous things, Sam has had a sheltered existence and her father has trouble giving her more freedom yet is too busy to spend time with her.
Though her mother Melanie is supportive, she still stands by her husband's decisions, leaving Sam feeling restricted from having a normal life. Accompanied by Secret Service agents everywhere she goes, and with her father running for re-election, Sam finally believes she has the chance to break out of her cocoon when she is allowed to attend college in California.
There, Sam ends up sharing a dorm room with boy-crazed Mia Thompson, who is hesitant at first to room with the first daughter, but eventually warms to her. After her Secret Service agents tackle a student brandishing a water gun at a pool party and hastily evacuate her from the premises, she insists that her detail be reduced to just two agents, to which her father begrudgingly agrees. Settling into some semblance of normalcy, she meets and becomes interested in fellow student James Lansome, her resident advisor.
James helps her avoid the paparazzi, escape her security team, and experience life as a normal girl. They discuss their deepest thoughts and wishes, and Sam tells him that although she is never alone, she is often lonely. Her dream has always been to drive an old Volkswagen off to college, with no babysitters or parents.
To thank James and Mia for their tolerance of her complicated world, Sam flies them home to D.C. to attend a ball, with the dresses delivered to her personally by Vera Wang. Outside the ball, a protest causes her security team to evacuate her again, when she discovers that James is actually an agent and has been protecting her all along.
Feeling heartbroken and betrayed, Sam tries to readjust to college life, but an attempt to make James jealous only results in her drunken photo splashed across tabloid articles. She returns home to help her father on the last stretch of his campaign, while James is disciplined for failure to act in a manner becoming of an agent. Sam asks her father to make sure James's career is not ruined by their romance, to which he agrees.
The President wins re-election and dances with Sam at his inauguration ball, referencing something she told him in his speech and acknowledging she is now a grown woman and worthy of his respect. She is surprised and pleased to see that James is in attendance, having been reassigned to the presidential detail. They dance, and he gives her keys to an old Volkswagen (her dream car) and encourages her to go "break some rules."
The film ends with Sam driving off in her car, heading back to college and the narrator telling us that she will be back in the spring, and reunite with James.
Rating: 10 Stars
