‘First Daughter’ better left unseen

Born into privilege, raised in the fishbowl of American politics, and currently domiciled in that velvet prison known as the White House, Samantha Mackenzie is a first daughter who just doesn’t know how to have fun.

And neither does “First Daughter.” Released after the similar “Chasing Liberty” and crammed full of threadbare fairy-tale imagery, this new ‘tween comedy-romance feels very tired and very old.

The movie stars Katie Holmes – cute as a cupcake and almost as overpoweringly sweet – as the rebellious Sam. Except she’s not rebellious. She may be exactly the daughter every candidate dreams of, but it’s hard to see her as a real person.

The plot has as much energy as the old Gephardt campaign. Sam gets in a minor scrape and apologizes. Roommate Mia gets in a snit and then gets over it. Cute-boy-down-the-hall James pitches woo.

Holmes is pleasant enough as Sam, but she’s getting too old for this (and as last year’s “Pieces of April” proved, already far too good). Marc Blucas is predictably handsome and nonthreatening as James, her chaste love interest.

Amerie, however, a young R&B singer in her film debut, never lifts Mia above stereotype. And casting Michael Keaton as the president is an unusual choice, but it doesn’t bear much fruit.

If you have a 10-year-old desperate to see a movie this weekend, you might do worse. After all, “SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2” is probably still playing somewhere. But you could do better – most clearly by simply staying home.