Clark (Because She Can) moves the Pygmalion myth to Manhattan, adds a dash of Thelma and Louise and proves what goes around, comes around to those born to the manor or trailer park. Professor Higgins is recast as suave bachelor Wyatt Hayes IV, “the sleekest lion in the pride,” who picks down-on-her-luck fashion designer wannabe Lucy Jo Ellis to make over into the toast of the town. The deal is eventually struck—makeover and a shot at well-born fashion contacts for a gentleman's bet that masks a lucrative and career-saving book deal. Along the way, these perfectly matched antagonists battle mean-as-a-snake society snoots and their own misguided ambitions to find happiness and each other. (And, it should be said, the “Rain in Spain” remix is pretty great: “The snow in Gstaad puts Aspen's to shame!” the newly svelte and prepped Lucy proclaims.) Yes, of course the ending's no surprise, but the rollicking, smart-aleck fun along the way is worth the price of admission. (Dec.)

Some inherit money. They live a life that others can only fantasize about, funded by Daddy’s signature. Sure, they may have some honorable accomplishments; they may be distinguished academically—but they aren't quite satisfied. What's prized is being the “it” guy or the jet setter. Meet Wyatt Hayes IV.

On the other hand, some are born unlucky. They have to work as lowly lapdogs to topnotch fashion designers, doing crummy work for years in the hopes of some day, somehow, making cubic zirconium into diamonds and their “look” into the “look.” Meet Lucy Jo Ellis.

In The Overnight Socialite , written by Bridie Clark (author of Because She Can, and writer for the New York Times and Vanity Fair), Wyatt and Lucy lead lives poles apart. Their eventual connection reveals the true magic of “being someone.”

Wyatt is bored with his money. In fact, he’s bored with his life. He's looking for a way to spite his ex-girlfriend and current “it” girl, and do something with his life other than swan about with a useless Ph.D. in biological anthropology. Fuming about the high-class New York women who make a life out of getting on Townhouse's cover, Wyatt comes up with an experiment—take an average girl and coach her to be a “socialite.”

Next scene: a rainy night. Enter Lucy Jo Ellis. After being publicly humiliated at a work event (public as in people-draped-in-fur-and-stumbling-on-Jimmy-Choos and humiliated as in falling-through-a runway-wearing-an-outfit-ten-sizes-too-small), she runs away in the pouring rain, looking for a cab. Wyatt sees Lucy, sopping wet, average-sized, mildly good looking, and deems her the perfect candidate for his social makeover.

Sound familiar? Of course it does. It's a Big Apple retelling of Pygmalion / My Fair Lady / Pretty Woman . Three months later, Lucy and Wyatt make an appearance at the Fashion Forum Gala, prepared to take on the socialite life. What follows reveals less about New York’s upper crust than it does about the connection between Lucy and Wyatt. Dressed to impress, The Overnight Socialite entertains more than just a chick-flick film. The characters carry the story, and the point? Maybe life can be worthwhile even when Daddy pays for it. (December) Samantha Breaux

Lucy Jo Ellis, from a small town in Minnesota, moved to New York with the dream of becoming a famous designer, but so far, working in a dress shop cutting out patterns, she hasn't gotten very far. Wyatt Hayes is a Harvard-educated anthropologist from money, very old money, who just dumped his socialite girlfriend. Suddenly inspired while waiting for a taxi, he bets his friend that he can turn a girl, any girl, into a bona fide New York socialite, no matter how corn-fed she is. Lucy needs a job, so she agrees to the experiment. In a whirlwind of personal trainers, designer gowns, spa retreats, and elocution lessons, Lucy is transformed, and now she must decide which of the Lucy’s is really her, and if Wyatt is simply a scientist or if there is more to his story. Clark offers a charming twenty-first-century update of Pygmalion and My Fair Lady. -- Hilary Hatto