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 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 and has since
gained a cult following.
The film was followed by two sequels.
Plot Nine-year old Samantha Montgomery lives in
the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, with her widowed father Hal, who runs a popular
sports-themed diner.
Hal soon marries a vain, self-absorbed woman named Fiona.
During the 1994 Northridge earthquake, Hal is killed when he runs to save Fiona.
Supposedly he has left no will, so Fiona receives all of his belongings, including the house,
the diner, and to her dismay, Sam.
Eight years later, Sam is employed as a worker at the diner to save money to attend Princeton
University, but she is regularly tormented by Fiona and her dim-witted fraternal twin
daughters, Brianna and Gabriella.
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, also torments her and calls her "Diner Girl" along with other members
of the popular clique.
Sam confides in her online pen pal "Nomad" about her dream to attend Princeton, a dream
which he also shares.
However, "Nomad"'s true identity is Austin Ames, the popular, yet unhappy, quarterback
of the school's football team, and Shelby's boyfriend.
"Nomad" proposes that they meet in person at the school's Halloween dance.
Initially reluctant, Sam is convinced by her best friend, Carter Ferrell, 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, Rhonda, Sam's other best friend, and the rest of the diner's staff convince her
to disobey Fiona and go to the dance anyway.
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, who had become smitten with her upon
her entrance.
The two decide to leave the party to walk alone and get to know each other a little
better.
While sharing a romantic dance, Sam and Austin begin to fall in love.
But just as Austin is about to unmask 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 phone and begins a desperate search to figure out who his "Cinderella"
really is, but every girl at the dance claims to be the mysterious owner of the phone.
Sam is reluctant to reveal her identity to Austin, feeling that he won't accept her due
to her being an outsider.
When Austin comes into the diner one day, Sam is forced to help him and, after a talk,
she attempts to reveal her identity to him, but is cut off by Fiona.
Sam's stepsisters find out about Sam and Austin's email relationship, and convince Shelby that
Sam tried to steal Austin from her.
During a pep rally, Sam's identity is revealed to Austin.
Hurt by Sam's secrecy, Austin does nothing as she is humiliated in front of the school,
and Sam believes he betrayed her.
Like Austin, Sam had been accepted to Princeton, only to be duped by Fiona into believing she
was rejected.
Sam then decides to give up her dreams and resigns herself to working at the diner, but
Rhonda gives Sam a pep talk.
When her stepsisters come in, they slam the door, causing a guitar to fall off the wall,
taking the wallpaper down with it.
Sam then sees her father's words, "Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing
the game," and regains her confidence.
She stands up to Fiona, quits her job at the diner, and moves out to live with Rhonda.
Rhonda and the entire diner's staff quit along with Sam, having been put up with Fiona's
abuse all those years after Hal died.
The customers, who watched the whole 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 stands up to his father, saying he wants to attend Princeton rather than simply
play football all his life.
He hands his helmet to his teammate, Ryan Henson, 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, stating that
all of his belongings belong to her.
Sam sells her step-family's fancy cars so that she can pay for college, and Fiona, who
signed the will as a witness but claims she never saw that will, is arrested after being
chased through the front yard of what is now Sam's house by the LAPD.
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 by its new owners, Sam and Rhonda.
Sam finds that she was in fact accepted by Princeton; the acceptance letter was found
in the garbage by her stepsisters.
Also, Austin's father comes to accept his son's desire to attend Princeton.
Things even 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 the school's DJ, Astrid.
The film ends with Sam and Austin, now officially a couple, driving off to Princeton together.
Cast Hilary Duff as Samantha "Sam" Montgomery
Hannah Robinson as Young Samantha
Chad Michael Murray as Austin Ames Jennifer Coolidge as Fionnuala "Fiona"
Regina King as Rhonda Madeline Zima as Brianna
Carly Westerman as Young Brianna
Andrea Avery as Gabriella Lilly Babb as Young Gabriella
Dan Byrd as Carter Farrell Rory Thost as Young Carter
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 Paul Rodriguez as Bobby
Lin Shaye as Mrs. Wells Whip Hubley as Harold "Hal" Montgomery
Kevin Kilner as Andy Ames James Eckhouse as Mr. Farrell
Reception The film was nominated for five Teen Choice
Awards at the 2005 ceremony, winning the award for Choice Movie Blush Scene, the same year
Duff won the Kids Choice Awards for Favorite Movie Actress.
Although most critics praised her performance, Duff received in 2005 a Golden Raspberry Award
for Worst Actress nomination.
Reviews to the film were generally negative.
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.
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 film was followed by two sequels: Another
Cinderella Story, starring Selena Gomez, Drew Seeley and Jane Lynch, was released on September
16, 2008, A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song, starring Lucy Hale, Freddie Stroma,
Megan Park and Missi Pyle, was released on September 6, 2011.
References
External links Official website
A Cinderella Story at the Internet Movie Database A Cinderella Story at AllMovie
A Cinderella Story at Box Office Mojo A Cinderella Story at Rotten Tomatoes
A Cinderella Story at Metacritic