I can't help myself smiling near the end of romantic comedies, when the two people made for each other finally have their first real kiss. 'A Cinderella Story' brought that smile to my face, on the way it made me laugh a couple of times, but to be honest the film itself is not good. I should say terrible I guess, but since I always find amusing things in this genre I personally would not agree with myself even though I know I am right.
The film follows the Cinderella story. We have Hilary Duff as Cinderella, here named Sam, Jennifer Coolidge as the evil stepmother named Fiona, and two evil stepsisters named Brianna (Madeline Zima) and Gabriella (Andrea Avery). The boy Sam likes is Austin (Chad Michael Murray), although she doesn't know she likes him since she has felt in love with him through e-mail conversations. I guess part of the inspiration came from 'You've Got Mail' too. Of course we have the dance where she learns who he is. Since her eyes are covered with a mask he does not who she is. (When this rule is applied to Superman, it should be applied to Hilary Duff.) Instead of losing a glass slipper near the end she loses her phone. The search for Cinderella starts.
This is the main story. Sub-plots involve Sam's good friend Carter (Dan Byrd) and their friendship and a diner that used to belong to Sam's father including the people working there, most notably Rhonda (Regina King). These little stories are almost more interesting than the main story. Duff is able to make the film watchable. She really is sweet and it is too bad for her she has to do it with this material. Since the comparison is always made: Lindsay Lohan's 'Mean Girls' is a much better film. That film seems to know something about high schools and the people attending them. It's way more intelligent and contains a lot more real laughs. In 'A Cinderella Story' everything, and I mean every little thing, goes by the book. I understand the film is based on one of the most famous fairy tales out there, but even stories like that can be made original in one way or another.
Is there some joy in this film? Yes, for some. You have to love romantic comedies as much as I do for starters. Like I said, Duff is really sweet and Chad Michael Murray has his moments even though he is six years older. You might give it a try if you can a film for those qualities alone, but I would say you better spend your time on something better. 'Mean Girls' is a nice one to start, or how about the good old Disney-animated 'Cinderella'?
The film follows the Cinderella story. We have Hilary Duff as Cinderella, here named Sam, Jennifer Coolidge as the evil stepmother named Fiona, and two evil stepsisters named Brianna (Madeline Zima) and Gabriella (Andrea Avery). The boy Sam likes is Austin (Chad Michael Murray), although she doesn't know she likes him since she has felt in love with him through e-mail conversations. I guess part of the inspiration came from 'You've Got Mail' too. Of course we have the dance where she learns who he is. Since her eyes are covered with a mask he does not who she is. (When this rule is applied to Superman, it should be applied to Hilary Duff.) Instead of losing a glass slipper near the end she loses her phone. The search for Cinderella starts.
This is the main story. Sub-plots involve Sam's good friend Carter (Dan Byrd) and their friendship and a diner that used to belong to Sam's father including the people working there, most notably Rhonda (Regina King). These little stories are almost more interesting than the main story. Duff is able to make the film watchable. She really is sweet and it is too bad for her she has to do it with this material. Since the comparison is always made: Lindsay Lohan's 'Mean Girls' is a much better film. That film seems to know something about high schools and the people attending them. It's way more intelligent and contains a lot more real laughs. In 'A Cinderella Story' everything, and I mean every little thing, goes by the book. I understand the film is based on one of the most famous fairy tales out there, but even stories like that can be made original in one way or another.
Is there some joy in this film? Yes, for some. You have to love romantic comedies as much as I do for starters. Like I said, Duff is really sweet and Chad Michael Murray has his moments even though he is six years older. You might give it a try if you can a film for those qualities alone, but I would say you better spend your time on something better. 'Mean Girls' is a nice one to start, or how about the good old Disney-animated 'Cinderella'?