If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

A Cinderella Story (2004): Dir: Mark Rosman / Cast: Hilary Duff, Chad Michael Murray, Jennifer Coolidge, Regina King, Dan Byrd: Yet another take on Cinderella although processed more as a teen targeted satire than Ever After. Hilary Duff is under the ruling of her wicked stepmother and her spoiled stepsisters after her father died in an earthquake. She slaves in a diner but secretly chats with a guy via Internet. As simple plots go they will narrowly avoid each other without knowing it. Screenplay is rubbish although young girls may enjoy its clean wholesome charm. Director Mark Rosman brings a modern day reality to it. Duff has charm but at the mercy of lame writing. Chad Michael Murray plays football captain whom communicates with her through Internet chat sites. When she wears an eye mask at the dance he seems not to know who she is so when she loses her slipper he is at a loss that no intelligent person would be fooled by. Jennifer Coolidge is the one casting that steals in her portrayal of the wicked stepmother who slaves Duff yet becomes the ultimate foil. Regina King is cardboard as Duff's diner friend whom looks out for her. Dan Byrd plays Duff's irritating friend who occupies scenes on the basis of being like a kid needing attention. Unlike Ever After the modern day elements are replaced by dreary teen clichés and foolish fantasy references. Score: 3 ½ / 10

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

The Cinderella motif has gotten used so much that it's become a blur. To be certain, Kenneth Branagh's live-action version of Disney's 1950 movie comes across as less interesting since Cinderella was a character in the recent anti-fairy tale "Into the Woods".Anyway, "A Cinderella Story" is what Charles Perrault's fairy tale would be were it set in the San Fernando Valley. The abused stepdaughter (Hilary Duff) is surrounded by empty-headed people. There's every SoCal stereotype: Botox, mass consumption, and overusing water.So why take any interest in this movie? I watched it because I wanted to see the early appearance of Simon Helberg, now known as Howard on "The Big Bang Theory"*. Every time that his character appeared, I threw out a comment in the persona of Howard's shrill, overbearing mom.So, you might take an interest in the movie for that reason, but no other. A more interesting movie from 2004 based on Perrault's story is "Ella Enchanted", starring Anne Hathaway.It's too bad that Carol Ann Susi died. Now we'll never know what Howard's mom looks like.*More recently, Christine Baranski (Leonard's mom on "The Big Bang Theory") played the cruel stepmother in "Into the Woods".

Kiley Marriott June 14th, 2012 LA II Movie review A Cinderella StoryA Cinderella Story is a movie inspired by the classic "Cinderella" princess fairytale, put into a real-life teen scenario, sprinkled with some over-exaggeration and high school stereotypes. The family-friendly romance is played by the gorgeous Hilary Duff and the handsome Chad Michael Murray, accompanied with Jennifer Coolidge. Although the actors are quite well-recognized, the rest of the crew is not. A Cinderella Story was directed by Mark Rosman (The man who also directed the Lizzie McGuire TV series) and released in 2004 by Warner Bros. When Sam Montgomery (Hilary Duff) loses her father at an early age his dreadful wife Fiona (Jennifer Coolidge), who can also be referred to as the Evil Stepmother, takes over Sam's life making her attend high school, work as a diner girl (At Fionas inherited business) and erasing any chance Sam has at a successful future. The only good things in Sam's life are her best friend Carter, her co-worker Rhonda, and her secret admirer/internet pen pal, "Nomad." High school life is made dreadful for Sam by the popular kids, Shelby, Shelby's crew, Shelby's boyfriend Austin Ames, and Sam's "Evil stepsisters" Brianna & Gabriella. The story takes place in the San Fernando Valley, California, present day. Tormented by her evil step mom Fiona, Sam Montgomery's life isn't the slightest bit easy. Between working full time, attending high school, and secretly trying to save up for college, poor Sam's stress levels are escalating. I won't even mention how Shelby, the popular girl at school, has to go out of her way to embarrass Sam every chance she gets, constantly calling her "Diner Girl" and making sly remarks to her unpopularity. The only thing that keeps pushing Sam forward is her texting pal "Nomad," whom she's never met in person but seems to be quite the Prince Charming. They both dream of attending Princeton College and getting away from everyone in their town, if only their parents weren't holding them back. When "Nomad" wittingly tells Sam to meet him at the Halloween school dance, in the center of the dance floor, she overloads, feeling all too excited and nervous at once. After her best friends Rhonda and Carter talk her into going and set her up with a dress and masquerade mask, she flees to the dance only to find out Fiona wants her at the diner at midnight, and Fiona can't find out Sam attended the dance. Finally, Sam makes it to the center of the dance floor, where she meets "Nomad," who is no letdown, he is actually the beautiful Austin Ames. The two share a romantic dance together but before Sam can tell Austin who she really is, she realizes she has to get back to the diner pronto! Sam races back to the diner, just in time to play it off as though she's been working and through a series of events, Sam and Austin end up together. Glamour and luxury become nonexistent in Fiona's life after the police find out she had lied about Sam's father's will, and "Diner Girl" becomes "Princeton-bound Girl" along with her "Prince Charming" Austin. A big part of this movie is when Fiona storms into the diner, knocking down a guitar (And wallpaper with it) revealing the words "DON'T LET THE FEAR OF STRIKING OUT KEEP YOU FROM PLAYING THE GAME." I believe the theme of this movie is to go after what you want, don't let others get in the way of your happiness. If you feel like you belong somewhere in life, get there. You need to strive for it, push for it, make it happen. If Sam had not worked so hard in school and taken chances to meet "Nomad" she never would have gotten either. Sam dreamed, Sam desired, Sam succeeded. You can too. A Cinderella Story can easily be applied to anyone's everyday life. We all know someone who is that drama queen, stuck up kid, or stereotypical snob; someone who only thinks of themselves, wears way too much makeup or reads far too many magazines; someone who puts way too much of their time in making others happy, never gives themselves a break, and dreams of something that seems so hard to reach. The characters in this movie can be compared to tons of people we know and the lessons learned in this movie are all ones we have to accept some time in our lives. The storyline and message of this movie are basically written out for us, not hidden between twisted meanings. You have to work towards what you want, overcome who brings you down, find what makes you happy and never let go. I enjoyed this movie because it contains no twisted story lines, nor gruesome torture, nor haunting tales. A Cinderella Story is simply a cute movie with a fairy-tale feel. By my judgment, I would recommend A Cinderella Story to anyone who is just looking for a easygoing love story. Knowing a basic boy, this movie probably isn't for you. However, if you are looking for a feel-good cinema and an all age show, pop this film in your DVD player and laugh along with some cheesy jokes and big smiles.