Friday, September 9, 2011

A Cinderella Story [PG]


Sam’s life was a fairytale… until tragedy struck and took her father away from her, leaving her at the mercy of her self-centred and horrible stepmother. Now, the only thing that keeps Sam going is her dream that one day she will go to Princeton, be free from her stepmother and cleaning floors at the “family” diner, and a pen pal relationship with an anonymous emailer named Nomad. When the two finally arrange to meet at the Halloween Dance, Sam panics when her mysterious dream guy turns out to be the most popular jock in school; one who most definitely would not be seen with a diner girl. Can Sam’s own Cinderella story have a happy ending? 

Like The Parent Trap, What a Girl Wants, and Freaky Friday, A Cinderella Story is a really cute and sparkly little film that’s good for mum and daughter to enjoy together on a cold afternoon, as I did today. It’s nothing majorly special, just a cute little teen adaptation of the original fairytale classic. 

Sam’s life was a fairytale… until tragedy struck and took her father away from her, leaving her at the mercy of her self-centred and altogether horrible stepmother. Now, the only thing that keeps Sam going is her dream of going to Princeton, leaving her stepmother, stepsisters, and cleaning floors at the “family” diner, and a cyberspace pen pal relationship with an anonymous emailer named Nomad. When the two finally decide to meet at the Halloween Dance, Sam panics when she discovers that her mysterious dream guy turns out to be the most popular jock in school; one that could not be seen with a diner girl. Can Sam’s own Cinderella story have a happy ending? 

Hilary Duff stars as Sam and she was lovely. She delivered a performance that was bubbly and clever, and she sparkled; that’s the best word to describe her performance: sparkling
In essence, it really is just the basic story of Cinderella, but with a few subtle changes that are made to appeal to a teen audience: the high school setting, Sam working at a diner, the Halloween Dance, and the fact that Sam drops her phone instead of a glass slipper; just subtle changes that were effective nonetheless. 
Starring Chad Michael Murray, Jennifer Coolidge, Dan Byrd, Regina King, Andrea Avery, Julie Gonzalo, and Madeline Zima, A Cinderella Story is a cute, modern retelling of the classic, filled with romance, technology, peer pressure, and masks. It’s very sparkly and girly, but it’s cute and a good way to pass the time. I really do love this film. 

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