A Cinderella Story

A Cinderella Story
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mark Rosman
Produced by	Clifford Werber Ilyssa Goodman Hunt Lowry Dylan Sellers
Written by	Leigh Dunlap
Starring	Hilary Duff Chad Michael Murray Jennifer Coolidge Whip Hubley Regina King Madeline Zima Andrea Avery Dan Byrd Julie Gonzalo
Music by	Christophe Beck
Cinematography	Anthony B. Richmond
Editing by	Cara Silverman
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	July 16, 2004 (2004-07-16)
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$19 million[1]
Box office	$70,067,909

A Cinderella Story is a 2004 American, teen, romantic comedy film. The film stars Hilary Duff, Jennifer Coolidge, Chad Michael Murray and Regina King and was directed by Mark Rosman. The film's plot revolves around two Internet pen pals (Duff and Murray) who meet at a school dance and fall in love but two different worlds keep them apart. It received negative reviews from critics, but was a commercial success.

Plot

The film starts with a nine-year old girl named Sam Montgomery (Hilary Duff) lives in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, with her widowed father Hal (Whip Hubley), who runs a popular sports-themed diner. Hal soon marries a vain, self-absorbed woman named Fiona (Jennifer Coolidge). When the Northridge earthquake strikes, Hal is killed. Supposedly leaving no will, Fiona receives all of his belongings, including the house and diner, and to her dismay, Sam.

Eight years later, seventeen-year old tomboy Sam is employed as a worker at the diner to save money for Princeton, where she is tormented by Fiona and her two dim-witted daughters, Brianna (Madeline Zima) and Gabriella (Andrea Avery). Fiona emotionally abuses Sam and uses unnecessary amounts of water during a drought. A running gag throughout the film demonstrates Sam's stepsisters participating in synchronized swimming, for which they are found to have absolutely no talent. Sam struggles to cope socially at North Valley High School, where Queen Bee cheerleader, Shelby Cummings (Julie Gonzalo), also torments her and calls her "Diner Girl." Sam is graduating from high school a year early.

Sam confides in her online pen pal "Nomad" about her dream to attend Princeton University, a dream which he also shares. However, "Nomad"'s true identity is Austin Ames (Chad Michael Murray), the popular, yet unhappy, quarterback of the school's football team, and Shelby's boyfriend (Although Austin broke up with her, she chooses to ignore it). "Nomad" proposes that they meet in person at the school's Halloween dance. Initially reluctant, Sam is convinced by Carter Ferrell (Dan Byrd), to go to the dance and meet her mysterious online friend.

On the night of the dance, Fiona orders Sam to work the night shift at the diner, then leaves to drive Brianna and Gabriella to the dance. Carter and Rhonda (Regina King), Sam's best friends convince her to disobey Fiona and go to the dance any way. Carter and Rhonda take Sam to find a costume for the dance. Sam, wearing a mask and a beautiful white dress, meets "Nomad" at the dance, and is surprised and shocked to learn that he is Austin. The two decide to leave the party to walk alone and get to know each other. After sharing a romantic dance together, Sam and Austin begin to fall in love. But just as Austin is about to kiss her, Sam's cell phone alarm goes off, warning her to return to the diner before Fiona comes back at midnight. She leaves without revealing her identity to Austin, and drops her phone on her way out.

Austin picks up her cell and begins a desperate search to figure out who his "Cinderella" really is, the result being that every girl in school claims to be the mysterious owner of the phone. Carter, dressed as Zorro, rescues Shelby from the unwanted amorous advances of Austin's friend, David (Brad Bufanda). Shelby falls for "Zorro" not knowing who he is and Carter resolves to tell her who he really is the next day, only to end up being shunned when he does. Sam's stepsisters convince Shelby that Sam tried to steal Austin from her, and, during a prep rally, Sam's identity is revealed to Austin.

Like Austin, Sam had been accepted to Princeton, only to be duped by Fiona believing she was rejected. Sam then decides to give up her dreams and resigns herself to working at the Diner. Rhonda gives Sam a pep talk. A fed up Sam confronts Fiona about the mistreatment she's given her, she quits her job at the diner and moves out to live with Rhonda. Simultaneously, Rhonda and the rest of the diner's staff quit along with Sam, having put up with Fiona's abuse for Sam's sake all those years after Hal died. The customers, who watched the entire scene, leave the diner as well.

Before a school football game, Sam confronts Austin about his cowardice and lies. Before the final play of the game, he sees Sam making her way out of the stands, and finally faces up to his father that he wants to attend Princeton rather than simply play football all his life. He hands his helmet to his other friend, Ryan, then chases after Sam and apologizes. She accepts his apology and they share their first kiss as rain falls over the drought-plagued valley.

Soon after, Sam finds Hal's will hidden in her childhood fairytale book, which stated that all of his belongings belonged to her. Sam sells her stepfamily's fancy cars so that she can pay for college, and Fiona, who signed the will as a witness, is arrested after being chased through the front yard of what is now Sam's house by the deputy sheriffs.

Fiona, Brianna and Gabriella are made to work off the money they stole from Sam at the diner, which is restored to its former glory before Hal's death by its new owners, Sam and Rhonda. Sam finds out the truth that she was accepted by Princeton after her acceptance letter was found in the garbage by Gabriella.

Things also work out in the end for Carter as he makes a commercial for acne medication. After being dumped by Austin, Shelby then makes a play for Carter, only to be spurned in favor of Astrid, the school's DJ. The movie ends with Sam and Austin happily driving off to Princeton, now officially a couple.

Cast

• Hilary Duff as Samantha "Sam" Montgomery
• Chad Michael Murray as Austin Ames
• Jennifer Coolidge as Fiona Montgomery
• Regina King as Rhonda
• Madeline Zima as Brianna Montgomery
• Andrea Avery as Gabriella Montgomery
• Dan Byrd as Carter Ferrell
• Julie Gonzalo as Shelby Cummings
• Aimee-Lynn Chadwick as Astrid
• Brad Bufanda as David
• J.D. Pardo as Ryan Henson
• Simon Helberg as Terrence
• Erica Hubbard as Madison
• Kady Cole as Caitlyn
• Mary Pat Gleason as Eleanor
• Lin Shaye as Mrs. Wells
• Whip Hubley as Harold "Hal" Montgomery
• Kevin Kilner as Andy Ames
• James Eckhouse as Mr. Farrell
• Hannah Robinson as Young Sam
• Rory Thost as Young Carter
• Carly Westerman as Young Brianna
• Lilly Babb as Young Gabriella
• Brenda Song as Kelly Anderson

Reception

Although some critics praised her performance, Duff received in 2005 a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress nomination. Reviews to the film were mostly negative with Time naming it one of the top 10 worst chick flicks.^[2] On Rotten Tomatoes, it currently holds an 11% rating.

Box office

In its opening weekend, the film grossed $13,623,350 in 2,625 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #4 at the box office, behind I, Robot, Spider-Man 2 and Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, was the best debut for an Teen film that week. By the end of its run, A Cinderella Story grossed $51,438,175 domestically and $18,629,734 internationally, totaling $70,067,909 worldwide.^[1]

Location

1272 E Calaveras St. Altadena, California, USA George's 50's Diner - 4390 Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach, California, USA Monrovia, California, USA San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, California, USA

Soundtrack

Sequels

The first sequel, entitled Another Cinderella Story and starring Selena Gomez and Drew Seeley, was released on September 16, 2008. Another sequel, A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song, stars Lucy Hale and Freddie Stroma and was released on September 6, 2011.

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: A Cinderella Story

• A Cinderella Story
• A Cinderella Story at the Internet Movie Database
• A Cinderella Story at AllRovi
• A Cinderella Story at Box Office Mojo
• A Cinderella Story at Rotten Tomatoes
• A Cinderella Story at Metacritic