A Cinderella Story: Review

Hillary Duff rocks in Cinderella Story. Chad Michael Murray makes the perfect Prince Charming. I was totally thrilled to watch the movie. Hillary Duff is my favorite teen star since, the Lizzy McGuire days. She represents the smart, intelligent and classy beauty. I have never seen Chad before but he looked picture perfect in "A Cinderella Story". I give this movie a five star rating.

Movie Overview and Plot:

The movie starts with 8 year old Sam Montgomery who lives with her best friend, her dad. Hal Montgomery who is Sam's father owns a diner called "Hal's Diner". Hal narrates bedtime fairy-tales to his only daughter Sam. Sam's favorite story is Cinderella. The staff of the diner is Sam's extended family. However, Hal falls in love with a lady called Fiona and marries her. Fiona becomes a part of the Montgomery family along with her two daughters born out of her previous marriage.

One night Sam's father hands his eight-year old daughter Cinderella's storybook and tells her that the book contains a very important thing that she will need when she grows up. He tells her that fairy-tales are not only about getting handsome princes but also about building your own castles. He assures her that dreams come true and for achieving them you must take education, go to college. Sam asks her father,” Daddy, Where do Princesses go to college?", her dad replies that they go to Princeton.

Sadly, that is the night of the 1994 Northridge earthquake when she loses her best friend. After the death of her father, Fiona and the girls get everything since Hal does not leave any will. Sam is made to live in the attic.

Eight years later, Sam is straight- A student who works as a diner girl in Fiona's Diner; once owned by her father. Fiona is a plastic surgery/Salmon obsessed fat lady who is full of craftiness and malice. She makes Sam do all the household and personal chores including writing reports for her daughters. Brianna (Madeline Zima) and Gabriella (Andrea Avery) are stupid, ugly and cunning daughters of Fiona.

Sam has a dream to go Princeton for which she tolerates Fiona's atrocious behavior. Her friend Carter (Dan Byrd) who aspires to be an actor is her support system. Carter is known as a geek and dresses up as a new character everyday. Rhonda and everyone at the diner offer a lot of love and support to Sam. But to her monotonous and routine life with a very little glitter, their still is a silver lining.

Sam has a cyberspace friendship with a guy called "Nomad609", who is actually the high-school Hunk and football team captain, "Austin Ames". Austin Ames has a craving writer and poet inside him who pours out his real thoughts while chatting with the Princeton gal (Sam Montgomery). He is bogged down with a control freak father. Austin's father wants him to be a football champ and then join his business. However, Austin wishes to join Princeton gal in Princeton and take up subjects of his choice.

Austin's girlfriend Shelby, the high-school popular girl is pompous and obsessed with her status. She insults Sam as a "Diner Girl" in the diner. Just after that Austin breaks-up with her. Austin is eager to meet the girl of his dreams. He asks her to meet him at the Halloween Dance. Sam is excited but Fiona tells her to work at the diner as she (Sam) is neither pretty nor bright to attend the dance.

Sam is depressed and goes to work at the diner. Rhonda and others motivate her and she decides to meet her dream boy at the dance. Rhonda gets a mask that goes with her wedding dress for Sam.
Carter takes her to the dance with him in his car. Cinderella then walks down the stairs in a beautiful dress while still hiding her beautiful eyes behind the mask.

She meets her dream boy at the center of the dance floor; after having an disappointing dance with a college loser whom she assumes to be "Nomad609". On knowing that Austin Ames is her Prince Charming, Sam is bewildered and somewhat intimidated. However, it does not last for long and both play 10 questions. Austin asks her whether she was disappointed to know that he was Nomad609, Sam answers that surprisingly she was not.

They both go together in a quiet but beautiful place away from the crowd. Austin asks for a dance and soon the music begins. Sam dances reluctantly as she afraid to reveal her identity. However, she eases out as the dance progresses. At the end of the dance, Austin tries to unmask her when cell-phone's alarm goes off.

Sam runs away dropping her cell-phone with Carter disguised as Zorro. While the romance between Cinderella and her prince charming is unfolding; Carter's Zorro act win's Shelby's heart.

Just before Sam grabs him, he is busy kissing Shelby. Prince Charming and Cinderella become the Homecoming Prince and Princess. But the prince only gets her cell-phone and uncertainty.

Although Gabriella and Brianna spot her, Fiona escapes out on her. Sam is saved from her wrath. Surprisingly, she is shocked to know the eagerness of Austin to find his Cinderella. Austin starts school-wide search for her. A pact between her and Carter is made that if he tells Shelby that he is Zorro then she will tell Austin that she is Cinderella. However, when Carter tells Shelby that it was he who saved her from David (Brad Bufanda), she gets irritated and rejects him.

Seeing all this, Sam is demoralized. However, Austin sends her a message that he wants to meet her. When Sam is about to tell him that it is her, her step-sister comes in the room. Sam goes out of the room when Fiona call's for her. Her step-sisters come to know that Sam is Cinderella. After making an unsuccessful attempt to convince Austin of them being Cinderella; they show the e-mail copies to Shelby and tell her that Sam was always jealous of her. Shelby, her friends and Sam's step-sisters organize a cruel skit.

The skit portrays Sam as a loser, a diner girl and an imposter. Austin is disappointed at the whole scene. Sam is left in tears and goes home crying. Fiona has thrown Sam's Princeton acceptance letter in a dustbin and forged a rejection letter. Sam is dejected to know that she has been rejected by Princeton University.

Everyone at the school is mocking at Sam. Austin doesn't seem to be accepting her. He struggles with his thoughts and feelings. Austin's father is unaware of his dreams and forces his opinions on his son. Austin gets depressed and even the acceptance letter from Princeton does not calm down his anxiety. The new revelation of his Cinderella makes him even more depressed. He is unable to show his feelings to Sam.

Sam quits the diner job along with Rhonda and the others after she sees her father's favorite quote on the wall. Sam has been playing baseball from the age of eight and her father often told her that
" Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game". Of course, this quote is seen as the wallpaper comes out when Brianna and Gabriella slam the door blaming Sam for it.

Sam goes to live with Rhonda. That night is the night of the big football game. Sam meets Austin and tells him that even though she has no job, no money for college and no family, she feels sad for him because she knows the boy wrote those wonderful mails (poetic, romantic and intelligent) is there inside him. However, waiting for him would be like waiting for a rain in a drought, "useless and disappointing". These words pierce his heart. Feeling much better, Sam then goes to watch the game with Carter who is in no character that day.

Shelby tells her friends that she and Austin are back together although not officially. Austin plays the game well and gets awesome applause from the audience. He spots his dream girl in the stadium. Sam starts getting nervous as the crowds cheer for Austin. During the last few moments of game as the team is huddled up for the next play, she asks Carter to leave the stadium with her.

But Austin spots her and leaving the game behind runs to stop his Cinderella. His father tries to stop him by telling him that he is running away from his dream. Austin makes it clear to him that it was his (father's) dream not his own.

Austin stops Sam and they both kiss each other. Sam, later on finds something really important in the Cinderella's storybook as told by her father. It is her father's will which says that she alone owns the diner, the house, the cars including those belonging to Fiona and her daughters. Sam sells those cars for tuition money. She makes her step-sister's search the real letter from Princeton University. Fiona and her daughters are made to work in Hal's diner by Rhonda and Sam.

Sam then goes to Princeton with her Prince Charming and they live happily ever after......