A Cinderella Story (2004)

Directed by: Mark Rosman | 95 minutes | comedy, family, romance | Actors: Hilary Duff, Jennifer Coolidge, Chad Michael Murray, Regina King, Dan Byrd, Julie Gonzalo, Lin Shaye, Madeline Zima, Andrea Avery, Mary Pat Gleason, Paul Rodriguez, Whip Hubley, Kevin Kilner, Erica Hubbard, Simon Helberg

The title of this film speaks volumes: in ‘A Cinderella Story’ we are dealing with the story of Cinderella. A girl who loses her father at a young age, who is harassed by her stepmother and her stepsisters, who secretly meets Prince Charming at the prom and falls in love, who has to be home by noon and who will eventually live happily ever after. These are all elements that the movie viewer can expect from ‘A Cinderella Story’ and will get to see exactly. So the storyline in this film is not surprising.

The originality is also lacking, because how often has a film been made about the so-called female student nerd who turns into a princess and eventually runs off with the piece of the school? Humor is of course present, but we are dealing here with a high cliché: the naturally ugly stepmother does everything she can to stay beautiful through facelifts and refurbishments, the stepsisters are unbearably stupid, the popular kids in school have lots of money and nice clothes, Cinderella’s best friend is a somewhat pathetic figure with glasses and the protagonists are sweet, smart and handsome.

What the hell is there to like about this movie? Despite the clichédness of the story, the lack of originality and the unsurprising humor ‘A Cinderella Story’ is a so-called feel good movie; two young students fall in love and, despite all the setbacks, things work out. Sometimes it is wonderful to know where we stand and that is what the title of this film suggests. And on top of that, we have to be honest: after all, don’t we all want to believe in fairy tales?