A CINDERELLA STORY

Directed by Mark Rossman
Warner Bros. Pictures
PG

This updated version of the Cinderella story set in contemporary California is wrapped in clichés. The princess is Sam Montgomery (Hilary Duff). When she was just a little girl, her beloved father was killed in an earthquake. Now she lives with her very nasty stepmother, Fiona (Jennifer Coolidge), and her two stupid step-sisters ( Andrea Avery and Madeline Zima), who force her to do their homework and constantly ridicule her. Sam is also assigned all the disagreeable household chores and then she has to go to work many hours at the diner, which Fiona inherited from Sam's dad. The manager there is Rhonda (Regina King) who has a special place in her heart for Sam: one could call her the teenager's fairy godmother. At school, Sam's one and only friend is Carter (Dan Byrd), a drama student with a flair for fantasy and trying on different roles. They are outsiders in a suburban high school where cheerleaders and jocks reign supreme.

Sam's secret is a Prince Charming with a screen name of Nomad whom she met in an Internet chat room for aspiring Princeton students. They have been emailing many times a day for quite some time and know they go to the same school. Unbeknownst to her, he is actually Austin Ames (Chad Michael Murray), captain of the football team and heartthrob of every girl around. He is dating Shelby (Julie Gonzalo), a cheerleader who relishes lording it over all her unfortunate peers who do not share her attractiveness and popularity. When Nomad invites Sam to meet him on the middle of the floor at a Halloween dance, the two soul mates really connect, but she is forced to retreat just before they kiss. And because she is wearing an eye mask, he doesn't recognize her, although he is a frequent customer at the diner.

The screenplay by Leigh Dunlap is remarkably bland, and the acting is uniformly bad with performances ranging from over-the-top to sleep-walking. "A Cinderella Story" misfires as a comedy and offers no fresh twists or clever turns on this ancient fairy tale.


Reviewed by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Rating: 1/5