Review: A Cinderella Story (2004)

Meet Austin Ames:

He's a good looking, blonde high school student. He dreams of going to Princeton University, but must endure working at his father's business until then. He's the most popular person in school and is portrayed by Chad Michael Murray.

Meet Samantha "Sam" Montgomery:

She's a good looking, blonde high school student. She dreams of going to Princeton University, but must endure working at her late father's business (now owned by her stepmother) until then. She is the biggest loser in the entire high school. She is also the films protagonist, played by Hilary Duff.

The film begins with an explanation of Sam's idyllic childhood, as she was raised by her loving single dad (her mother died presumably long ago of Plotconvenience-itis). This happy life comes to a halt when Sam's father marries the ghastly Fiona, (played by the wonderful Jennifer Coolidge). Sam also gains two stepsisters, who I shall call Tall-Twiggy Comic Relief and Short-Stouter Comic relief, because even after many times I have viewed this film since its original release date, I still have no idea what their names are.

Shortly after the marriage, Sam's father tragically dies from Plotconvenience-itis, during an earthquake.

With her father gone, Sam's happiness is taken away from her too. Fiona forces her to live in the attic of her home and to do all the household chores, as well as work in her late father's diner, which has been left to Fiona (neither of Fiona's daughters are forced to work there though). Additionally, the house and the diner are now decorated in all pink, all tacky ornaments and furnishings, so the identity of Sam's father has been erased from her life. Fiona is everywhere now.

Eight years later, Sam is engaging in romantic messages from a guy she knows as Nomad, an mysterious but charming stranger on the interweb (quite advanced for 2004 I think). But who could be Nomad?

Of all the people it could be, it is Austin Ames! Yes, that totally cool and popular guy I mentioned earlier. When Sam learns his of true identity, she refuses to reveal her true self to him because these two kids are so different. There is no way he would ever accept a loser like her.

I'm going to stop being sarcastic for a minute to say that I do enjoy this film. My sister and I grew up watching it and it is a piece of sweet, girly fun. I know this film so thoroughly in fact, that I didn't have to re-watch it before writing this review, (even if knowing the stepsisters names might have helped somehwhat...). However, this film is also ridiculous and flawed. Back to the mocking:

Sam and Austin (played by Chad Michael Murray) have been messaging for a while, but Austin has a girlfriend. This is Shelby, played by Julie Gonzalo. Now, Austin breaks up with her early on in the film:

...which he begins to go about doing in a nice enough way (it's Shelby's own fault that she insists he tells her what he wants to tell her in front of all their friends, but Austin didn't really fight against this). Yet there are a couple of problems here. First of all, Austin's face when he responds to Shelby's question here:

It's smug and happy. You wouldn't show this emotion to someone you were breaking up with unless you were a complete moron. Granted, the film wants us to think Shelby is a complete moron, yet he must have tolerated her all this time because he cared about her, even just a little, at least once right? Austin's father pushed him into things he didn't want to do, but he didn't force him into a relationship at least. This leads into my second problem.

Cheating.

Is Sam and Austin's relationship born through cheating?

"But Sam and Austin are soulmates and they're good people. They never did anything physical." I hear other nostalgic women my age cry out in despair, as they Google Chad Michael Murray's face to console them.

I think it's a big problem when people overlook emotional attraction. The film makes it clear that Austin has been having an emotional affair with Sam. For how long? We don't know. Do I care about Shelby? The film clearly doesn't, so I don't either. She's too much of a stereotypical nasty cheerleader, another obstacle keeping our protagonist from her guy. I just think that if you make the realisation that you are even partly attracted to the idea of leaving your partner for someone else, then let your partner know in a gentle but firm manner. Either you'll realise you love each other enough to work it out openly or you say goodbye to them and do your own thing. Do not prolong pain. Do not prolong sneaking around with someone you are having an emotional affair with just because you are too cowardly to confront someone who is committed to you. If they really know you, they probably suspect something anyway and part of them might even appreciate an explanation.

Well, that got a bit deep for a Hilary Duff film, didn't it? Anyway, we know nothing about Austin and Shelby's relationship, so we have no real reason to feel bad to Shelby in this situation. We're just supposed to be happy that Austin has freed himself to be with his mystery girl, who we all know is our protagonist Sam. There are more films and books that have this issue on a much more severe level that have gotten away with it. I'm sure I'll get to those eventually.

Back to the review:

There is a school Halloween ball approaching, and it is here at 11pm on the middle of the dance floor that Austin and Sam have arranged to meet. There is a dilemma though: Sam doesn't have a costume though. Cue trying on clothes montage:

This montage has terrible puns accompanying each costume Sam emerges in, including one where she's dressed as a nun and she sneezes, to which everyone says "Bless you."

The scene comes about because of Rhonda, (played by Regina King) the lovely waitress at the diner who practically runs the place, and acts as a motherly figure towards Sam. She gives a costume shop owner (a regular customer at the diner) a deal of free breakfast for a month in exchange for this. What do they get out of this?

Not a costume. That would be far too easy. They just get a mask which matches a wedding dress Rhonda has but never wore. Little bit convenient, but on with the plot!

Sam goes to the ball dressed as a zombie bride, with fantastic makeup that really makes it look like one of her eye balls is dangling from its socket-

Okay, she doesn't, but that would look so much cooler.

Instead, she looks like this. A true Cinderella:

Everyone in the school is mesmerised by her appearance and wants to know who this beautiful mystery girl is (the only student who knows Sam's true identity is her best friend Carter. He was part of the costume trying on montage and has been in many other scenes, but honestly his only purpose is to be quirkier than Sam and to make out with Shelby one time as a joke. I like him, but sadly there isn't much about him to reflect upon).

Sam and Austin meet. Austin wears a mask so she knows who he is and his popularity frightens her. However, the charming blonde guy manages to charm his new blonde date and they have a pleasant time together, chatting and eventually dancing in a gazebo under the stars as a band plays a soft musical piece for them. Very romantic.

But there's one problem. Austin still doesn't know Sam's true identity because she is wearing a mask.

But Sam looks soooooo different with the mask on (as you can see above), that Austin is too mesmerised by her mysterious air to stop and remember that he knows the voice of the girl he frequently sees in and outside of high school (he frequents the diner where she works) because Sam makes no effort to conceal it.

Anyway, after a lovely evening together, Sam must dash off a midnight without revealing her identity to Austin because a) plot convenience, b) Cinderella. GEDDIT?!? and c) Fiona wouldn't let Sam go to the school ball because of a) and b), so she is supposed to be working in the diner.

Sam drops her mobile phone as she leaves, which Austin finds and keeps as a token of the worthy young lady he had the magical evening with. Not quite the signature glass slipper from the original fairytale, but that isn't the problem here. Sam kind of needs that phone. It's a mobile phone. It is valued both in cost and for personal reasons. She uses it daily. So when he posts a load of flyers around the school looking for his mystery girl, why didn't he simply just put up posters that said "Found: mobile phone." In case you're thinking that anyone might claim a free mobile phone, (even one from 2004) there are easy ways to check that the phone belongs to the person who claims it, such as getting them to list some of their contacts (and not vague ones like "mum" "dad" etc.). If Austin found Sam this way, it could have been a quieter moment between the pair, that would have been more interesting. How would Austin have reacted to Sam if they had been alone when he found out her identity? If he rejected her, then that would show how insecure he truly is when it comes to trying to impress his father and peers. Also, this way, Austin didn't have to reveal his identity to the whole school. Leading to another problem:

Austin puts his phone number on those posters, in those little tabs you can rip off and keep. He's popular, so this could welcome stalkers. That's not my main issue though. My main issue with this is that Sam already knows his phone number as texting is one of their main ways of communication, so why hand out his phone number at all? Granted, we don't memorise every phone number we receive, but didn't these two meet via email? If so, then they would have exchanged their phone numbers by email, and seeing as Sam's inbox is full of emails from 'Nomad' (Austin, and by the way, I don't think his terrible username is ever justified), surely she could have just scrolled through them and found the phone number again if she wanted?

Additionally, Austin's big search for the mystery girl (Sam) seems out of character. He puts posters all over the school to look for a girl he has never met (even worrying at one point that she could be a guy catfishing him) but he can't tell his dad that he wants to be a writer? If he's a shyer, more secretive guy in this respect than his peers believe, why suddenly let the whole school know that he is looking for her? Of course all the girls in school are going to claim to be her. Also, it's quite harsh on Shelby, once again. Going around the school, seeing that your recent ex is already openly into another girl must be really hard. Not to worry though, Shelby doesn't have enough depth for concerns like that.

Speaking of shallow characters, Sam's stepsisters see her open computer which displays emails between her and Austin. They use this to their advantage, and long story short, the school cheerleaders perform a play with Shelby and the stepsisters that shows Sam and Austin's love story, humiliating them both and revealing Sam's identity at last. Austin looks at Sam for a moment, betrayed, but does nothing. Sam runs home to cry in her room, only to have Fiona come in and hand her a letter telling her that she failed to get accepted into Princeton, the university she and Austin want to attend.

Life seems pretty bad for Sam. One day though, as she's working in the diner, some of the tacky pink wallpaper in the dinner is torn off by a fallen clock, revealing a quote (or rather, a presumed catchphrase said by Sam's dad) that she had long forgotten: "Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game."

Yes, I was able to remember that quote for this review without watching the film again. I think I need to go outside more often. Anyway, Sam decides to quit working at the diner and everyone, workers and customers, follow after her, including Rhonda, who lets Sam live with her.

"Rhonda, are you sure that this is okay?" Sam asks Rhonda, about being invited to live with her. "Sam, I wouldn't have it any other way." Rhonda tells her.

So Rhonda, I have a small question for you. WHY DIDN'T YOU GET SAM TO LIVE WITH YOU ALL THIS TIME? You knew she was in a terrible situation, why not intervene? She's underage, isn't she? Were you waiting for her to come into her own all this time so that she would confront Fiona alone and then she would come to you? Maybe it's a nice thought, but heck, most of the adults I know are still struggling to be confident in themselves. After embracing her father's words, Sam is feeling bolder and confronts Austin, saying she was being her true self all the while and he was the one hiding behind a persona. Takes one to know one Sam.

I'm not particularly a fan of the American high school trope of a confrontation having to take place in front of a crowd for it to count to the person being confronted, so this scene doesn't quite sit well with me. Sam just comes across as mean, and because Austin doesn't get to defend himself, we don't get to see much character from him. I understand that there is a point to this, but if we are rooting for Sam as our protagonist, why should we want her to end up with someone who doesn't know who they are? It seems to undermine Sam's newfound confidence and message of being true to yourself a bit.

Nonetheless, the film actually wraps up quite nicely from here. Austin quits his sports game to kiss Sam, which ties in nicely with the drought in the city coming to an end. The pair become a couple, and both find out they have really been accepted into Princeton.

I don't know how, as we never see them doing any homework or studying for themselves (Sam is seen writing essays, but they are for her stepsisters) and this is an Ivy League university, the most elite of adult educations you can have in America. Sorry. I'll be nice now.

Sam also finds out her father actually left everything, including the restaurant to her in his will and not Fiona, who subsequently gets arrested for fraud because of this, as well as the child labour rules she broke in that area, as Sam is indeed a minor. The diner is restored to its former glory, with Rhonda as the new manager and Fiona, Tall-Twiggy Comic Relief and Short-Stouter Comic relief enduring the same cruel labour Sam went through at their hands previously.

Sam and Austin drive off into the sunset and it is revealed that Austin did indeed return Sam's phone. So, how long did she go thinking it was lost for then exactly?

That dear readers is A Cinderella Story. Did I like it? I love it actually, but I think that is almost entirely for sentimental value. The jokes are largely hit and miss, as well as dated in more than one case. The characters are flawed in ways that make them questionable not as realistic characters, but as good people in some respects. I find it hard to feel any pity for Austin in this film. He's one of those people you recognise from the screen in real life too, who you know will have a good life whatever path he takes, even if it isn't a life that makes him happy. Additionally, Sam can come across as a little too whiny at times, which comes to a head for me in the scene when she confronts Austin. This is supposed to be a powerful moment for her, but watching it back it somehow seems spiteful to me.

"This is her loving the film?" You are probably asking right now. In a way, yes. If you truly love anything in life, you can see its flaws and do your best to understand and accept them. That's what love is, which is why the confrontation scene didn't sit well with me.

I do think this is a fun Cinderella retelling though, and some parts do still make me laugh (even if it is at it as well as with it now). It's very comfortable viewing, the sort of thing you would want to watch if you're just having a lazy Sunday and want to have some mild enjoyment without doing anything in particular. It's what I will be doing time and time again. It's a fairy-tale retelling set in a high school setting: these characters are all caricatures, but they're ones I can still see charm in almost fourteen years after I first saw it. It also contains my favourite Jennifer Coolidge performance and you can't go too wrong with that. Regina King as Rhonda is a pleasure to see too and she gets some good lines. For me, this is simple, happy viewing.

THE SCOREBOARD

Chick Flick Check List Elements: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 15, 18, 21, 26, 29, 34, 36, 43, 50, 51, 52 (email exchanges counts as letter writing), 53, 56, 58, 60

Total: 24 out of 60 - this is a definitive chick flick.

Is this really a chick flick or will men like it too? It is a chick flick without question, but I hope a guy could sit and enjoy some parts of it at least.

Would I recommend this film? I would probably chat happily with others who grew up watching it before I recommended it, but I won't reject the idea of recommending this to others who I think could like it.

Film rating: 5/10