It’s comforting to know that as long as movies are still in production in movie land, bad chick flicks aimed towards young teenagers will continually be made. A Cinderella Story is a prime example.
Sam Montgomery (Hilary Duff) is the black sheep in her family of stepmom Fiona (Jennifer Coolidge), and stepsisters Brianna (Madeline Zima) and Gabriella (Andrew Avery). Poor Sam is forced to work in a diner, not allowed to go to her school dance, and the butt of such comments as “you’re not very bright, and you’re not very pretty.” Did I emphasize how unfortunate this girl is?
Our underprivileged Dufferella receives sympathy from best friend Carter (Dan Byrd) in between classes and diner shifts. An unattractive, mildly funny high school geek, Carter’s only purpose served in Story is as Sam’s accessory–essentially, she can’t be complaining about her miserable existence to herself now, can she? Sam’s supportive following grows with her diner’s staff, led by head “diner-girl” defender, waitress/fairy-godmom Rhonda (Regina King).
Fiona and lead man Austin (delectable Chad Michael Murray) shine some desperately needed light on this otherwise rained-on parade. Every scene with the comedic genius Coolidge will leave you chuckling, despite the inner battle to hold it back out of disgust for the film as a whole. Murray does all but hold Duff‘s hand through their scenes-walking her through tender romantic moments together with his overpowering acting abilities. Without the comedic and sanity relief provided by the only two capable actors in this flick, Story is just another one of Duff‘s music videos–and not one of her best.
This is a great movie for the little ones to go see, but painful for anybody with a fully developed brain. Watch A Cinderella Story be retold for the millionth time, except this time, ironically enough, it rests upon the weakest storyline. While its nauseatingly clichéd premise hardly allows for a letdown, anyone who makes it through this movie will walk out unhappily ever after.
