The overall rating of a review is different from a simple average of all individual ratings.
Advantages:
Chad Michael Murray's looks
Disadvantages:
Predictable, boring, Hilary Duff acting like herself yet again, poor comedy, really unoriginal, idea just wasn’t executed well, lacklustre script, bad direction, terrible soundtrack mainly because Duff sings the majority of the songs .
Recommendable
No:
Detailed rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Story
Characters / Performances
Special Effects
How does it compare to similar films?
SoundtrackAverage
How does it compare to others by the same director?Not applicable
Being the teen movie queen, it was only natural I was going to have to see “A Cinderella Story” starring none other than America’s sweetheart Hilary Duff. The movie seemed like a lot of fun, and I’m one of those people who doesn’t mind watching remakes and new takes on old ideas, just as long as they’re well executed. From the trailer, this movie did look like it was going to be a good, light-hearted teen movie, urm…what was I thinking?
After her father passes away Samantha Montgomery is left in the care of her evil stepmother Fiona and her stepsisters Brianna and Gabriella. Sam is forced to work in the diner her father left behind which Fiona now runs. She is basically forced to scrub floors (sound familiar?) and serve the perfect high school beings. She is picked on by these high school jocks and cheerleaders and has to deal with daily taunts of “diner girl”. Sam has dreams of one day escaping her daily exploits and go to Princeton. While being treated like an outsider Sam looks forward to her daily text messages from her secret admirer who calls himself Nomad. The two have lots in common and seem to understand each other more than anyone else possibly could. They both want to meet at the homecoming dance and after struggling to find the perfect outfit, Sam finally attends the dance unbeknown to Fiona who expects her to work through the night, thus Samantha must be back by 12 before Fiona comes back. Anyway when Sam gets to the dance she finally gets to meet Nomad and who does Nomad turn out to be? None other than the most beautiful guy in high school (what a coincidence) Austin Ames. Sam is a little shocked and thinks he is just another jock and doubts they could possibly have anything in common in reality. She leaves the party leaving her cell phone by mistake, Austin’s only clue to find out who his Cinderella really is…yawn.
I
for some reason felt Chad Michael Murray and Hilary Duff didn’t have amazing chemistry, and was I the only one to be bothered by the fact that a 23 year old was sucking face with a 17-year-old…eww. Ok I’m just jealous, I wish he were sucking face with me but we can’t have everything. Anyway as much as I love Chad this movie is beneath him, they should have got a guy who was slightly younger and had more chemistry with Hilary, it would have been better for the film, not to mention less cringe worthy.
Hilary Duff is doing nothing for her career by playing the same character YET AGAIN. It’s Lizzie McGuire as the diner girl, people! I used to think Hilary was great (not acting wise!!!) just because she seemed so clueless, but still bubbly and likeable, but after what, five movies and an entire TV series of her playing the same role it’s getting pretty old. Hilary can’t act, all she can do is act like herself, and that’s not going to get her anywhere. Because this movie at times felt the need to be serious Hilary had a chance to show she can act but the dramatic scenes just weren’t up to scratch. I also didn’t like the way Sam was portrayed, she was clearly a fortunate looking girl, but we’re supposed to feel sorry for this “outsider” who happens to have perfectly straight long blonde hair and blue eyes…yeh such an outsider because she wears Converse trainers. I am beginning to really loathe Hilary Duff, she just seems so irritating and her fame is down to luck, pure and simple. It also bothers me that she replaced one of my favourite actresses Evan Rachel Wood in her next movie “Raise your voice”, that cast change alone changes the whole genre of the movie. This just proves she’s not very talented, just lucky little girls adore her.
Jennifer Coolidge was probably the best thing (besides Chad) about this movie. She played the evil stepmother Fiona who loves to get liposuction and botox and pays for it with the money that should have been left for Sam’s college tuition. Even though she was funny, it was clear she could have been funnier. I think Jennifer Coolidge is hilarious, but in this movie she’s just funny, her performance was just a waste to be honest. Given the right material this character could have been so much better, all the elements were there, bad direction and an awful script let the character down. Chad Michael Murray played the role of the teen heartthrob perfectly but being attached to a movie like this isn’t going to do his career any favours so I’m baffled as to what drew him to this project in the first place. I think he did well to play the part of Austin as a bit mysterious, I think he’s a decent actor but he just needs good material to work with, and this clearly ain’t. I was quite impressed with Dan Byrd who played Sam’s best friend Carter. I guess he was just the comic relief but he was so cute and likeable, he should have been in the movie more. I don’t even know what to say about any of the other cast members, as their performances were just so unmemorable.
What I couldn’t get over was how boring this movie was. It unnecessarily tried to be serious, but come on, in a movie like this it just wouldn’t work. I’m not kidding but at times I was yawning so loud I was clearly bothering the row of pre teen girls behind me. This movie just didn’t have the right balance and that’s the main reason, this film in a word…sucks! If they kept it funny, slightly silly and less dramatic it would have appealed to a wider audience and would have been much more enjoyable to watch. The movie just lacked a decent script; the idea could have worked so well, I mean everyone loves Cinderella! Well that is unless her name is Hilary Duff! “Ever After” was another take on the Cinderella idea and that was excellent, they had the chance to make a modernised version but they screwed it up and it really is that simple.
The director Mark Rosman (a guy I’ve never heard of) looked like he had no idea what he wanted to do with this film. A serious melodrama? Or a slapstick teen movie? I guess in that sense he really confuses the audience. The comedy is so amateurish and the drama is so cringe worthy, its pretty obvious Rosman really had no idea what he was doing. What he should have done was cut the serious crap out and stuck with the light-hearted, fun formula which is tried and tested but hey at least it’s a winning formula! Plus that’s the only type of acting Hilary can do. Act like herself that is. I just felt like they took a big risk with this film, making it serious at times was just wrong for the story and the lead actress as acting serious is not something she can do well. Unfortunately this guy is also directing Hilary’s next movie “The Perfect Man”, I’m really looking forward to seeing how that one turns out!
By the way please note the last sentence of the previous paragraph was me being sarcastic in case you didn’t get it. This movie could have been so much more; it had a decent cast but bad direction and average acting from the main cast member let it down. Ok it wouldn’t have been anything truly groundbreaking or original but what does that matter? As long as it’s ok to watch, and this clearly isn’t. I think it’ll be most entertaining to little girls who see Duff as their idol, but anyone else, steer clear of this crap unless like me you have a super huge crush on Chad Michael Murray, who does happen to look delish in this movie, hey he’s the best thing about this disaster! With the success of movies like “Mean girls” and “Freaky Friday” it’s pretty clear to see who will win the teen queen battle, my money’s always been on Lohan.
CAST~~
Hilary Duff – Samantha Montgomery Chad Michael Murray – Austin Ames Jennifer Coolidge – Fiona Regina King – Rhonda Dan Byrd – Carter Julie Gonzalo – Shelby Madeline Zima – Brianna Andrea Avery – Gabriella Mary Pat Gleason – Eleanor Paul Rodriguez - Bobby
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
I didn't like this either. My mum & sis came out the cinema praising it, and I started to feel like I made the wrong mistake actually going 2 c another film, but when I got it on DVD I was so glad I went 2 c the other film. Lol. Chad Michael Murray however is 2 much of an idiot in this film, prefer him in One Tree Hill and Hiliary Duff just get's on my nerves. Maybe because my sis plays her cds all the time, it's givin me shivers even now. Gr8 review. Kirsty
Craigshadow12 22.07.2007 15:00
Was gonna buy this. Your review made me think twice :D
Jean-Luc-Le-Robot 02.07.2007 18:33
I can REALLY agree with you on this review! From the moment it started i could tell it would be the same as any other film with Duff in! You have written a great review with all the information needed! H x
Cinderella never had it this bad. A twisted and hilarious update of the classic fairy tale ... more
- high school senior Sam (Hilary Duff) lives at the beck and call of her self-obsessed step-mother Fiona (Jennifer Coolidge) and her sinfully wicked step-sisters...
Advantages: It'll cheer you up! Disadvantages: No chemistry between the two leads.
damncoldnightdotnet 06.05.2005 (06.05.2005)
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Review of A Cinderella Story (DVD)
![A Cinderella Story [DVD] [2004]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78512120.jpg "A Cinderella Story [DVD] [2004]")
Nov 17th, 2004
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