As you may have guessed from the title, this is a modern day version of Cinderella, a fun and upbeat movie starring Hilary Duff and One Tree Hill's Chad Michael Murray.
► Cast ◄ Sam Montgomery - Hilary Duff (Lizzie McGuire, Cheaper By The Dozen) Austin Ames - Chad Michael Murray (One Tree Hill, Freaky Friday) Fiona - Jennifer Coolidge (Legally Blonde, American Pie, Joey) Rhonda - Regina King (Legally Blonde 2, Miss Congeniality 2)
► Plot ◄ Hilary Duff plays Sam Montgomery, a high school student who lives at the beck and call of her botox-obsessed stepmother Fiona and her two brainless stepsisters. Fiona now owns her late husband's diner, which she forces Sam to work at day and night. Because of this Sam gets picked on at school, where the gang of cool kids have nicknamed her "Diner Girl", but Sam dreams of getting away from it all and attending Princeton University. Her days are made a lot brighter by an online relationship with a boy known only as Nomad, whom she met in a Princeton chatroom. Sam and Nomad regularly text and email each other, and it is revealed to the viewer quite early in the film that Nomad is in fact Austin Ames (Chad Michael Murray) the most popular boy in school, he's student body president and captain of the football team, and one of the cool kids whose clique make fun of Sam. After a month's online relationship, Nomad asks Sam to meet him at their school's Halloween dance. Sam nervously agrees, but when Fiona forbids her to leave the diner that night, she needs a fairy godmother. Enter Rhonda (Regina King) one of the staff who works at Fiona's diner and has been looking out for Sam for years. Rhonda finds Sam a costume that hides her identity, and Sam gets to go to the ball. She meets Austin, her prince charming, and they spend a beautiful evening together, but Sam has a curfew - she has to get back to the diner before Fiona does. Sam flees before midnight, leaving Austin with no idea who she is, his only clue is her locked cell phone which she dropped on her way out (not quite a glass slipper, eh?) So Austin begins a search to find his Cinderella, while Sam knows she can never tell him that it's her because he's one of the popular kids and she's just "Diner Girl". So, how can this fairytale end with a happily ever after?
► My Opinion ◄ Predictable? Yes, but what did you expect from something called A Cinderella Story? No prizes for guessing every scene that will happen next, but that aside, I really like this film. It may not be original, but it's sweet, funny and it always cheers me up. It's a bright and fluffy retelling of the fairytale, it has comedy, romance, and it even tries to get a moral in there as well. One of the core points of the film is something that Sam's father used to tell her when she was little - "never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game," - a quote that becomes more significant as the film moves on.
As for the cast, I thought there was very little chemistry between Hilary and Chad. Hilary Duff doesn't seem all that bad to me. I know a lot of people dislike her; two of my friends wouldn't even look at this film because she's in it, which seemed a bit much to me, but each to their own. I quite like her; at least she's a good role model for young girls today. If I had a daughter, I'd be far happier knowing she looked up to someone like Hilary Duff, as opposed to someone like Britney Spears. Hilary's endearing as Sam, and you really find yourself wanting things to go right for her in the film.
As for Chad Michael Murray, I really don't like him. The only thing I'd seen him in before this was Freaky Friday, and with the dreadful haircut he had in that, who really paid attention to his acting? I think they could have found a much better Nomad. On a completely superficial level, they could have found a better looking one, but I think the "prince charming" could have been slightly more, um, charming, and maybe slightly less wooden. He seemed to permanently look like he didn't want to be there!
The supporting cast are absolutely brilliant. Jennifer Coolidge is so perfect as the self absorbed wicked stepmother with an obsession for plastic surgery and salmon; she's hilariously funny, delivers the best lines, and has the best comic scenes. Regina King makes a lovely fairy godmother, as a waitress who's worked in the diner since Sam's father was alive and has always looked out for Sam's best interests. Sam's best friend Carter is played by Dan Byrd, he provides a lot of the comedy value, and isn't nearly as irritating as I thought he would be in the beginning.
The soundtrack features, surprisingly, only four songs by Hilary Duff, one by her older sister Haylie Duff, and a duet between them. Aside from that, the soundtrack is actually very good. It also features music by Jesse McCartney, Josh Kelley, Goo Goo Dolls, Edwin McCain, Mya and MXPA, and their songs are very prominent in the film, and fit well to the scenes they're used in. The soundtrack CD is available to buy from most normal CD shops, and is £12.99 on Amazon.co.uk, although I was quite disappointed to learn that one of my favourite songs from the film - Hear You Me by Jimmy Eat World - which is played during the big finale scene, isn't actually included on the CD.
I'd say that this film is clearly aimed at people younger than me, but that certainly doesn't stop me from enjoying it as well. It's perfect if you want something cheerful, sweet, funny and romantic.
► Quotes ◄ Austin: You need a wax. Sam: Excuse me? Austin: I meant the car.
Fiona: I am very, very, very, very upset about this. Brianna and Gabriella: You don't look upset. Fiona: It's the Botox. I can't show emotion for another hour and a half.
Fiona: Is this the Norwegian salmon I asked for? I need my omega-three's. Sam: Only the best. Fiona: I can tell. You know, it costs a fortune to fly that stuff in from Norwegia!
Rhonda: Chuck, how you doing? The regular? So that's a cheese omelette, extra bacon, crisp, blueberry muffin and a coke. Chuck: Oh, make it a diet coke. I'm trying to watch my weight. Rhonda: Why? It ain't going nowhere!
► DVD ◄ The DVD is rated PG, and is presented in widescreen, with subtitles in English, Hebrew and Arabic. There's a good selection of specials features on there - ▪ Deleted Scenes. ▪ Cast Commentary by Hilary Duff, Chad Michael Murray, Dan Byrd, and Madeline Zima & Andrea Avery (the stepsisters.) ▪ Cinderella Couture - A documentary about the clothes, how they dressed Hilary for the different sections of the film, etc. ▪ Hilary and Haylie Duff's music video for Our Lips Are Sealed. ▪ Original Screen Tests. (So you get to see just how little chemistry Chad and Hilary had before filming even started!) ▪ A very odd documentary about looking for a frog prince ("the producers quickly realised there wasn't a frog in Hollywood that would take direction, and so, they went home.") I personally thought this was the funniest thing on the entire DVD, including the film! ▪ Plenty of other little bits - a quiz, an introduction to Kids With A Cause - the charity Hilary works for, theatrical trailers, etc.
► Technical Stuff ◄ Year: 2004. Time Running: 91 Minutes. Cert: PG. Genre: Romantic Comedy. Director: Mark Rosman, whose previous credits include Life Size, Model Behaviour, and Hilary Duff's upcoming film The Perfect Man.
► Where To Buy It ◄ It was released on DVD on March 28th 2005, so anywhere that sells chart DVDs will have this one. Amazon.co.uk have it for £9.99, or used from around £7.00, or you can check eBay for a cheaper option. Or you could rent it, because if you're not a fan, you might not want to subject yourself to and hour and a half of Hilary Duff more than once!
► Tagline ◄ - Once Upon A Time… Can Happen Anytime.
► Overall ◄ On the front cover of the DVD, the Mail On Sunday is quoted as saying "it's cute, it's sweet, a harmless girlie romcom," and I think that says all there is to say really. It's a lovely film with a nice positive message, but I think you'd have to be really into your sweet teen romantic comedies, like I am, to want to watch it more than once.
A Cinderella Story
Meet high school student Sam (Hilary Duff) who scrubs floors at a diner copes with her
... more
wicked stepmother and stepsisters and all the while dreams of Princeton (the perfect spot for a would-be princess to find a prince). But maybe she has a Prince Charm...
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very helpful![A Cinderella Story [2004]](http://picnic.ciao.com/uk/65498123.jpg)
