User reviews

Despite a wildly corny and simple story line and writing combined with poor acting, this movie still somehow works. It's entertaining and is a feel good movie overall. It's still very poorly done but oh well.

Hilary Duff stars in a modern remake of the popular fairy tale, except her Cinderella is a high school senior dealing with a self-obsessed stepmother ( Jennifer Coolidge) and two wicked stepsisters. When she meets her "prince charming" online at a Halloween dance, she has to leave their date in a hurry, leaving him her cell phone as the only clue to her true identity.

A Cinderella Story tells the oldest story in the book and it's actually not that bad. Sure, it's unoriginal and lame but there are some original lines and fun characters. Hilary Duff is the star and she gives a good performance. She isn't about to win an Oscar or anything but it was a convincing performance. Chad Michael Murray plays her love interest and he gives an okay performance. There is a problem between Chad and Hilary though, they don't really have chemistry together. If they had more chemistry then the film would have been better but they both play likable characters so it's not all bad. The supporting actors are the real reason why this film works so well. Jennifer Coolidge steals the movie as the botox evil stepmother and she gives a pretty funny performance. Regina King is also pretty good as Rhonda and she offers a decent amount of laughs.

Once you get by the good looking, mildly charming cast there isn't much else. Mark Rosman does a terrible job at directing the film, keeping it simple yet very dull. There may be a few original lines here or there but the film is pretty bland. The movie is only 95 minutes long so it's not too much of a pain to watch but it does drag during a few scenes. It is also unrealistic which is kind of surprising because this is a modern update of the story so you would expect it to be a lot more believable. Despite these flaws, the film was still mildly enjoyable and it was pretty harmless as well. It was also a lot better than Chasing Liberty and New York Minute. In the end, fans of the genre should enjoy the movie but it's more on the forgettable side. Rating 6/10

A Cinderella Story turned out to be exactly how I envisioned it in my mind mentally. It would be a waste to pay $5 to see a movie that tells itself. You'd think that it should be getting really really low marks for being cheesy, stereotypical, and clichéd (some of which seem off the wall). But then there are other tween targeted films like this one and when I saw those films I pretty much flipped. I'm talking about films like "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen" "Raise Your Voice" and "Sleepover".

Parents, please take my advice: if you are gonna show your daughters at least one badly written and overly clichéd teen film where the underdog girl gets her man...by all means make it this one. Yes I mean it. Despite how stupid this film may seem, it is the only one that stands out from the other teen films...mainly in the heroine. Sam is honest and brave and nothing like the other girls in those other films. You actually feel sorry for Sam when she is ridiculed by others (becuase YOU KNOW she didn't deserve it unlike the other teen flick heroines).

And of course every character you expect to see in a teen flick makes an appearance here. There are actually more snobby rich-bitch characters in this film compared to the others, but other than that you can expect every character and even "cliche moments by characters in a teen flick" to be found. If you have seen other teen flicks you would spot these moments right away. I did enjoy that one really nerdy character (Terry?). Although, I wished he had more of an actual part in the actual story (but then again it's normal to see half of a cast in a teen movie to have no actual part in the story. They're just there to represent their stereotype.) Oh yeah RNMorton does make a good point: If a teen flick is set in California, this kind of cruelty towards others is bound to flourish.

And you know sometimes is good to see a badly clichéd film and make fun of it. A Cinderella Story is perfect for that too. Drinking game, anybody? ;)

I don't mean this in any disrespect to Hilary and Chad...But isn't the Cinderella-type film been overdone in the last few years? Girl is treated badly by step mother. Girl falls in love with guy. Girl's sisters go after guy. I think if the film had come out a year earlier, or later, it would've been fine - but there had already been Ella Enchanted with the same storyline in 2005.

But to the positives - Hilary Duff is a brilliant actress, and the role fitted her really well. Equally, Chad-Michael Murray is a brilliant actor, and the two had so much on-screen chemistry, it was brilliant to watch. Shame that it was such a weak, overused storyline.

This movie seemed good for teenage and younger girls. It has a wholesome overall message to it but is not so full of stereotypes as to bore some of the more demanding teens and tweens and younger kids. There are a few funny scenes in the movie and the acting is OK for the age and level of training for the lead actress and actor. It is a good addition to the growing video library of movies by Hilary Duff. It seems to address the concerns of its target audience quite well and plays to them. Probably would not be all that fun for 15 or older male teens but certainly appeals to 15 and younger girls.

Some of the jokes were quite stale and seem like something you would see in any Fox or other prime time sitcom but the hits in the joke area seemed to out number the misses

Ever since I watched the film "Minority report," I started to notice about the lack of Asian actors in Hollywood film. So I will try to write comments about films that are lack of Asian actors. As one of my professor quoted me this Chinese saying one time, "a journey of thousands of kilometers starts with a single step." Hopefully, more and more people will realize that, and hopefully Hollywood casting directors and directors will begin to hire more Asian actors.

I am not saying that every movie should have Asian actors as the protagonists. This film is about a high school in San Fernando Valley in Southern California where there are plenty of Asian students. This film has black and Hispanic actors, however, I did not see a single Asian actor in this movie. It had a costume dancing party, there were over 300 students, but i didn't see a single Asian face. This is just not right. First of all, it did not reflect the reality of the student population in SF valley; second, why they chose not to hire any Asian actors? In the year of 2007, has anyone seen any Asian jocks in any of the Hollywood films? Has Hollywood ever made a film about an Asian male loving a Caucasian female whether in high school or as adults? This is of course a fantasy movie, young people are instilled by those Hollywood fantasy movies as if only white girls can find love such as this movie and the princess diaries, etc. I don't think that I have ever seen a movie about an Asian or black girl becoming a princess and finding love with a prince of anywhere.

It didn't make sense no one called Sam's cell phone after she lost it. The guy could easily find out who the owner is checking her phone number, caller ID, etc. There was certainly no need to post the wanted AD on campus, etc. Girls at her age are self-conscious, can they really walk into boy's locker room with so much confidence, and none of the guys was naked? Unlike the princess diary, this storyline is not very reasonable.

I loved the modernized version of Cinderella but from film making point of view ,its a bit frsutrated.

This is second among the 'story' movies, with Bailee Madison's coming in 1st. It all comes down to writing, as all the lead girls act and sing good and are beautiful. It must also be said that Bailee has the most unique look. Having said that, all the actors play the roles up to par, in all the movies. So the difference, as in any Hollywood production, must be the writing.

There really is nothing noteworthy or commendable about this movie.

The plot is a straight-ahead take on the Cinderella classic; only instead of a dilapidated manor, it's the suburbs, high school, and a diner.

The Fiona and stepsister characters are despicable but not in a fun way. Some characters are meant to be hated and you have a good time doing so. Some characters are hated and you just want them off the screen as quickly as possible. This film is overflowing with the latter.

Hillary Duff and Chad Murray are boring. I could not care less about anything Duff said, and I could not care less about Murray in any sense.

The story points are all contrived and unoriginal.

The only character that approaches likability is Rhonda. She's nice and supportive of Sam and all; we'll keep her.

Paul Rodriguez is wasted on this movie.

Overall, just a boring waste of time. Total fluff. If you want a Cinderella-type story, go watch the classic Disney animation and get the real thing. This is a sorry knock-off.

Samantha Montgomery (Hilary Duff) loses her father to an earthquake when she's 8 and leaves her to toil away at their diner under the thumb of her evil stepmother Fiona (Jennifer Coolidge) and stepsisters Gabriella (Andrea Avery) and Brianna (Madeline Zima). She's loved by the diner staff and her best friend Carter (Dan Byrd). She has an online relationship but doesn't know it's with the most popular boy in her school Austin (Chad Michael Murray).

In this Cinderella adaptation, a cell phone is the glass slipper. It was unrealistic to not see through her disguise. That's a case of style ignoring substance. Then there's the evil reveal of her identity at the prep rally. The emotions and the motivations are all forced and illogical. Although I like all the actors in this movie, it has too much juvenile silliness. Ultimately it's a harmless piece of fluff.

This movie is predictable and has the same tone that my brother sometimes adopts when bored. Now that doesn't mean that i didn't like it, in fact this movie is the one to watch when you really don't want to think about what you're watching. That's what i always do. A Cinderella Story is safe to watch if your not interested in the storyline, because, honestly, it doesn't take rocket science to figure out whats going to happen. The Cinderella part in the title is kind of a give away. The acting is pretty average if you ask me. I am a fan of Hilary Duff and i have never thought that she was an exceptional actress, but having said that i do think that she is refreshing, in a way that she brings reality to the character. I have always thought that she manages to make her characters real, in some aspects anyway. I do think that she did pretty well with this character though. Chad Michael Murray is pretty ordinary in this film, a forgettable performance. Regina King was good in this although i think that it's another forgettable performance. Jennifer Coolidge brought most of the humor into this film, although Hilary did have a funny line in the movie. I must mention Hilary Duff's dress, it was GORGEOUS. I have never been interested in dresses but it had fairytale written all over it. Mask, twenty-first century, mask, twenty-first century. That doesn't work, especially if she goes to your school. What about the voice and the hair colour? I mean you can't see her and than not know who she is, that is the major flaw with this film. Apart from that, i think that A Cinderella Story is a movie that you could fall asleep through and wake up at the end and still know what's going on. That is how predictable it is.

I thought that the movie was lukewarm. There were some funny moments throughout but I don't think that there was enough romance between the main characters. What I mean is that there were not enough one on one with Hilary and Chad. I wanted to see the chemistry between them a lot more. It was very disappointing in that respect.It would have been more enjoyable if he had got to know her during school time also. Once in a while these old story lines need to have some kind of twist whereby the story revolves mostly around the interactions of the main characters.Directors need to take this into consideration. We all know the old story, give it a new twist so that it seems as if you are hearing/seeing this story from a fresh new perspective. The movie that Drew Barrymore starred in, Ever After, had a little bit more interaction between the main characters, but I still didn't think it was enough. I am a romantic, what can I say.

I am a big fan of H.D. for making positive girl values cool again, designing clothes that look good but also look like clothes for CHILDREN (and not drag queens, strippers, college kids...there's a time and a place.) She also makes good movie choices.

In this movie she plays a strong female character named Sam, aka Cinderella.

She works hard,has goals, and sticks up for herself while still being a girl. (She doesn't totally take on the "tomboy" role that the movie wants her to take-- which is great! You don't have to be like a man to be any of those things and Hillary is a good model of that.)

The movie is cute, funny, and pretty positive. Unfortunately, it also gets really boring and sort of silly at times. Of course, I'm not in the target age range for the flic, so who am I to say?

5/10 It's not one I'd watch over and over again.