A Cinderella Story
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| A Cinderella Story | |
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 Movie poster |
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| Directed by | Mark Rosman |
| Written by | Leigh Dunlap |
| Starring | Hilary Duff Chad Michael Murray Jennifer Coolidge Regina King |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros |
| Release date(s) | 16 July 2004 |
| Running time | 95 min |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $20,000,000 USD (est.) |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
A Cinderella Story is a teen romance movie starring Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray. A modern-day take on the classic story of Cinderella, the plot involves a lost cell phone, rather than the traditional glass slipper. Directed by Mark Rosman, the film also includes Jennifer Coolidge, Dan Byrd, Regina King, Julie Gonzalo and Lin Shaye. The film was given mixed reviews by most critics, and the film was a box office success.
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[edit] Synopsis
Sam Montgomery (Duff) lived a semi-fairytale life with her widowed father when she was 8 years old in the San Fernando Valley, until an earthquake kills her father and leaves her with her plastic-surgery-obsessed stepmother Fiona and her two clumsy stepsisters Brianna and Gabriella. 8 years later, Sam is a straight-A student enduring snobbish Fiona, who turned her father's old diner into a teeny-bopper hot spot and forced her to work as a bus girl. In addition to her family, Sam must deal with the "popular" girls at school and an IM relationship with a "secret admirer" who wants to attend Princeton with her. Her only escapes from her cruel world are her one friend, Carter and Austin Ames, her e-mail buddy.
One day, Austin Aymes(through email) invites Sam to the Halloween Homecoming dance so they can meet face-to-face. But Fiona forces Sam to work late at the diner that night until 12AM. With the help of Carter and Rhonda, a waitress, Sam goes to the ball masquerading as a princess in a mask. She meets Austin in the middle of the dance floor, and they dance and talk, Sam never revealing her identity. Her cell phone alarm goes off at 11:45 PM and Sam flees so she can be back at the diner before Fiona finds her, dropping her cell phone in the process. Austin picks up the phone and wants to find Sam again.
Later on, Sam is still feeling uncomfortable about revealing herself to Austin, who in turn is searching obsessively for his Cinderella. Sam's stepsisters find her emails while snooping around on her laptop and show these to Shelby, the head cheerleader who happens to have just broken up with Austin. Shelby, thinking Sam stole Austin on purpose, puts together a cruel skit to perform at a pep rally in order to humiliate Sam and reveal her identity to Austin shamefully.
Eventually, Sam has enough of her stepfamily and quits working at the diner, tells Fiona off, and moves in with Rhonda. She tells Austin that she's fed up with him pretending to be something he's not. Austin Aymes comes to his senses during the homecoming game and kisses Sam on the bleachers, at the very same time it starts raining. In the end, Sam finds her father's hidden will, leaving everything to her. She has Fiona arrested for keeping it a secret when her signature was plainly on the document, and for violating California child labor laws for all of the hours she was forced to work at the diner. Carter gets a role in a commercial, and Shelby is left in the dust. Brianna and Gabriella, along with Fiona, are forced to work in the diner to work off their community service debts. Sam and Austin are accepted to Princeton and ride off to their new future together.
[edit] Cast
- Hilary Duff as Sam Montgomery
- Chad Michael Murray as Austin Aymes
- Jennifer Coolidge as Fiona
- Dan Byrd as Carter
- Regina King as Rhonda
- Julie Gonzalo as Shelby
- Lin Shaye as Mrs. Wells
- Madeline Zima as Brianna
- Andrea Avery as Gabriella
- Mary Pat Gleason
- Whip Hubley as Sam's Dad
- Kevin Kilner as Austin's Dad
- Erica Hubbard as Madison
- Simon Helberg as Terry
[edit] Trivia
- The earthquake that killed Sam's father was the real-life 1994 Northridge earthquake.
- PrincetonGirl818, Sam's screenname, includes "818" the area code of the San Fernando Valley, in which the movie takes place.
- The number "609" at the end of Chad Michael Murray's online screen name, Nomad 609, is the actual area code for the Princeton area, referred to throughout the movie.
- The stepsisters dressed in the colors of the two original stepsisters from the Disney animated version of Cinderella. Viewers will notice that they are in green, and orange / red throughout, as are Drizella and Anastasia from the original version. The only time this differs is when they are in the swimming pool and at the Homecoming Dance.
- The heroine is named after a well-known actress and her most famous incarnation: "Sam Montgomery" is a combination of the names Samantha Stephens (the main character in Bewitched) and Elizabeth Montgomery, who played Samantha.
- The movie's version of the song "Now You Know" was by Kara DioGuardi. Normally it is sung by Hilary Duff.
- According to IMDb.com, Rupert Grint was lined up to play Austin, but had to drop out because of his role as Ron in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
- Teen Queens Lindsay Lohan and Hilary Duff each starred in a Teen Flick each only a year apart. Lohan, 2003's Freaky Friday and Duff's 2004's A Cinderella Story. The Actresses were the main character in each movie. The girls' love interest in each movie was played by Chad Michael Murray and each of the characters arch-enemy's were played by Julie Gonzalo.
- Each character represents a different character from Cinderella:
Sam - Cinderella
Austin - Prince Charming
Fiona - Lady Tremaine
Gabriella & Brianna - Anastasia & Drizella
Rhonda - Fairy Godmother
Carter - Gus and Jaq
[edit] See also
- The A Cinderella Story soundtrack album
