marylandflower
A Cinderella Story is an excellent film. It has excellent casting such as Hilary Duff as Sam Montgomery, Chad Michael Murray as Austin Ames, and Jennifer Coolidge as Fiona Montgomery. The way they tell the Cinderella story is very close to how modern age teenagers deal with things like love. Some of the ways they portray the Cinderella elements are not like love. Most of the love stuff like them chatting online is how teenagers flirt and or talk to each other. The loss of the father takes a bigger toll on this new Cinderella then the old animated Disney one. The stepmother is a little more wicked and vindictive in this version of the Cinderella story then in the original animated one. She makes her work at the diner long hours, tells her how ugly and not talented she is. She puts all of the wonderful things on her daughters. At the end Sam gets fed up with Austin and goes into the locker room before the big game to tell him off. She had enough people let her down she was not going to let him be one of them. Then having just stood up to both him and the stepmother Fiona, she wants to go home and just forget about everything that happened. But then Austin runs off the field and right as the kiss rains falls signaling the end of the drought. Because she said "Waiting for you is like waiting for rain in the drought useless and disappointing". I like how in the diner scene Sam sees the words on the wall when the guitar falls (They had been teasing it was going to fall during the whole movie, whenever the door closed they would show it shaking). "Never let the fear of striking our keep you from playing the game" and am reminded that she should not be afraid to stand up to her, because she won't take it anymore. Definitely recommend making this a must see.
James Hitchcock
Recent years have seen a number of attempts to film traditional fairy tales in a "darker", more "adult" style, often influenced by fantasy epics like Peter Jackson's Tolkien adaptations, examples being "Snow White and the Huntsman" and "Maleficent", based upon the Sleeping Beauty legend. "A Cinderella Story", from just over a decade ago, is another fairy tale adaptation, but made in a very different style. The story is updated to the modern San Fernando Valley, California, the heroine is named Samantha, and the film is made as a traditional high school romantic comedy. That seems appropriate; American high school comedies are generally about as realistic as fairy tales- indeed, in some cases rather less so. (Samantha's surname is "Montgomery", possibly a reference to Elizabeth Montgomery who played a character named Samantha in the popular TV show "Bewitched"). One thing which always used to baffle me about the traditional legend of Cinderella is why her father did not intervene more decisively to prevent her from being mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters. If paternal affection had not motivated him to do so, surely social pride would have done; if there is one thing no aristocrat- however financially embarrassed or mild-mannered he might be- could bear, it would be seeing his daughter treated like a skivvy. The makers of this film seem to have had similar thoughts because Sam's kindly father Hal, the owner of a diner, is killed off (in an earthquake) before the end of the opening credits. This leaves Sam to the less-than-tender mercies of her unpleasant stepmother Fiona and her ugly stepsisters Brianna and Gabriella. (The adjective "ugly" in this context refers less to the girls' looks than to their obnoxious personalities). Fiona not only forces Sam to work as her unpaid domestic servant but also makes her work in the diner.Sam's problems are not confined to the home. It is a standard cliché in all high school comedies that every American high school is dominated by a clique of upper-class girls (invariably cheerleaders) and their athletic boyfriends (invariably football players; it would seem that prowess in other sports such as basketball, soccer or track-and-field does not confer the same social prestige). The members of this clique are always described as "popular", even though they invariably possess personality traits- snobbishness, vanity, arrogance and bitchiness- which in real life would doubtless make them extremely unpopular. Sam falls foul of this clique, particularly their leader Shelby, who mercilessly mock her for her working-class origins.The film tells the story, parallelling the original tale of Cinderella, of Sam's romance with Shelby's ex-boyfriend Austin, the handsome, popular star player of the school football team, who is the Prince Charming of this story. Sam's Fairy Godmother-equivalent is Rhonda, the kind-hearted manager of the diner, and the buttons figure is Carter, the bespectacled class geek. The school dance is the equivalent of the Prince's ball and a mobile phone stands in for the glass slipper."A Cinderella Story" did well at the box-office, but was not a hit with the critics. Roger Ebert, for example, called it "a lame, stupid movie", and I can see where he was coming from. It doesn't score highly for originality; turning an old, old fairy tale into a high school movie doesn't require much in the way of artistic inspiration. The characters are all stereotypes, and the male lead Chad Michael Murray is more Prince Charmless than Prince Charming. At one point the film seems to be moving to an ending in which Sam ends up with Carter, who seems to be much more sincerely in love with her than the rather shallow Austin. That would have been much more original, but the film-makers dared not break one of the oldest rules of the cinema. (The one which states that boys who wear glasses can be a girl's platonic best friend but never her love interest). The decision to follow the Cinderella story so closely leads to some plot-holes; is it, for example, plausible that her flimsy cardboard mask would have prevented Austin, or any of her other classmates, from recognising Sam, especially as she never tries to disguise her voice? (I mean, she's a girl in his year at school, not a complete stranger). On the plus side, there is some occasionally witty dialogue, and Jennifer Coolidge is amusingly nasty as Fiona, as is Julie Gonzalo as Shelby. Hilary Duff, a rising Disney star at the time, makes a sweet and personable heroine. (Her popularity was probably the main reason for the film's box-office success). It helps that at seventeen Hilary was the same age as the character she was playing, a departure from the normal movie convention whereby high school students are often played by actors in their twenties or even thirties. Overall, however, this is little more than a high school movie that reminds you of every other high school movie you've ever seen. 5/10
breakdownthatfilm-blogspot-com
There are many ways to tell a story, but only a few of them work as an original piece. It's an odd saying, but it's possible. This version of Cinderella does perform well with updating the material. Yet, every part was still predictable. I don't see the connection. The scenes were original but the order that they came in, were too obvious. How did writer Leigh Dunlap miss that?The story of this movie runs fairly parallel to its predecessors. An attractive female is bullied and annoyed by her stepfamily and "more popular" people in high school. That is, until she runs into the guy of her dreams. Playing the "Cinderella" character (Sam Montgomery), who works constantly at her father's diner, is Hilary Duff. Duff was a great choice because of her girly figure and innocent voice. Her prince charming is Chad Michael Murray and he's also a good choice because of his masculine build and gentle voice. Not to mention, both Duff and Murray look lovely together.The rest of the co-stars are wonderful additions too. Dan Byrd is funny as Sam's close friend due to how prone he is at getting himself in awkward situations. Even Sam's diner co-workers have their great moments too. And it's great to see that they are there to support her as well. Jennifer Coolidge was an accurate choice for Sam's stepmother. One of the best parts is when she's swerving on the road and can't show an upset face because her botox treatment did not wear off yet. How embarrassing! And the stepsisters are no better either.The whole idea of having the original story modernized was an ample touch. Instead of having a fairy godmother and being magically given a dress, she's given a gorgeous dress from a close friend at work. Rather than having the magic spell dissipate, Sam had a timer of when to let her know that she had to leave the dance. And in place of the glass slipper that was left behind, was her cell phone. All the substitutions were amusing to see because they made Sam have an exact "Cinderella" story but without the magic.The music by Christophe Beck was a nice addition as well. His ability to create the feelings for when they are needed is done pleasingly. One other thing I didn't see possible though was how Murray's character was able to set up search and rescue fliers for the "Cinderella" character that he danced with. Doesn't he have classes? I mean he is a teenager and he's looking for his date but schools don't allow match findings to become public on school walls. How did he get away with that? Is that he that good looking?The transitions between scenes are quite obvious but the direction is great as a modernized rendition. The characters are welcoming, as is the way the plot follows through.
