After her father's sudden death, Sam Montgomery is left to live with her Stepmother, Fiona, and her two step sisters. Fiona doesn't really care for Sam, and basically treats her like a servant, as she forces her to work at the family diner, as well as looking after the home. Life's not much better for Sam at school, where she finds herself being mocked and shunned by the more popular and wealthy groups of girls and boys. The only enjoyment Sam has is her internet romance with a mystery guy from the same school. After weeks of flirtatious messages they agree to meet at the school fancy dress dance. Unaware of whom her mystery man is, she is stunned to find that it is Austin Ames, one of the most popular boys at school and one of the gang who shunned her. Although they get on, Sam has to rush back to the diner; before her stepmother finds out she is missing. In her haste to leave, she drops her mobile phone, and it falls into the hands of Austin, who takes it upon himself to find the owner and possibly the girl he really loves.
So take a classic fairy tale, adapt it into a modern setting and what have you got, A Cinderella Story. Although the film isn't great, it achieves what it sets out to do, it is an enjoyable, light hearted romance which is obviously aimed for a much younger audience than myself. The actual adaptation of the fairy tale works really well, when updated to fit into a modern world, with classic bits of the story, such as the glass slipper being swapped for a mobile phone, working really well. If you really wanted to pick out something which doesn't work, you could pick up on why Austin didn't realize that his mystery date was Sam, she wasn't that hard to identify in her fancy dress costume. But in all fairness, this is a fairytale, so u can't really criticize it for little things like this.
In the lead role of Sam is Hilary Duff (Cheaper by the Dozen) who puts in a very enjoyable performance as "Cinderella". Her "Prince Charming", Austin Ames, is played by Chad Michael Murray (Freaky Friday) who like Hilary Duff, puts in an adequate and enjoyable performance. Probably the funniest performance comes from the stepmother, Fiona, played by Jennifer Coolidge (American Pie) who doesn't really come over as an evil character, more of a mean money grabber. The rest of the cast all put in adequate and occasionally funny performances.
= The Cast =======
Hilary Duff .... Sam Jennifer Coolidge .... Fiona Chad Michael Murray .... Austin Ames Dan Byrd .... Carter Regina King .... Rhonda Julie Gonzalo .... Shelby Lin Shaye .... Mrs. Wells Kevin Kilner .... Austin's Dad Erica Hubbard .... Madison Simon Helberg .... Terry
A Cinderella Story is a reasonably good film, which is definitely aimed at a younger audience than myself. It achieves what it aims to do, and that is firstly to adapt the classic Cinderella fairytale into a modern setting, but also to make an innocent romantic comedy which appeals to its desired audience. If you are looking for a film which you can watch with your children then I would recommend this, as you will enjoy comparing it to the classic fairytale, and they will enjoy the harmless story.
A Cinderella Story is currently available on Amazon for £4.97.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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: Parental Guidance - Starring: Christopher Ettridge, Victor McGuire, Emma Amos, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Elizabeth Carling
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
I used this DVD as a bribe whilst babysitting to make my cousin shut up, and it worked at treat. Thanks to your review, or I would never have got it. x
HotBabes 27.04.2006 14:18
Sounds like a true fairy story. I might need a box of tissues if I saw this. x x
frizzball 06.03.2006 16:24
I quite liked this as something nice and easy to watch, like you say it's aimed at a younger audience but I found it a nice, uplifting film. Probably bit of a chick flick though. Louise. 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: 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.
BabyGirl 17.11.2004 (17.11.2004)
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Review of A Cinderella Story (DVD)
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Mar 4th, 2006
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