cinderella story

A Cinderella Story (2004) is a teen romance movie starring Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray. A modern-day take on the classic story of Cinderella, it has her leave behind a cell phone, rather than the traditional glass slipper.

This Mark Rosman directed film also includes Jennifer Coolidge, Dan Byrd, Regina King, Julie Gonzalo and Lin Shaye.

The movie grossed a total of $74,628,141 worldwide and was a financial success.

Plot

Sam and her dad were best friends. Life was going really well until her father met Fiona. They married, and Sam hated it. Her dad still read to her, until one night, he died in the Northridge Earthquake. Since her father didn't leave a will, Fiona got everything, including her dad's diner which was remodeled to Fiona's taste.

Sam attends a typical school, and she is not popular, with only one friend, Carter Ferrel. She manages A's, works at the diner every night and weekend, and is treated like a servant at her own house. Although she has no family at home, at the diner she has Bobby, Elaine and Rhonda who care for her as much as her father did. She does, however, have a secret cyber relationship with a boy named Nomad, her secret name is PrincetonGirl818. They send emails, IM messages and text messages. But they don't know who they really are. Until one night, Nomad asks Sam to meet him at the Homecoming Dance.

At the Homecoming Dance, Sam is surprised to see her Prince Charming is in fact the most popular guy in school, a football player, and student body president, Austin Aames. He is unaware of her identity, due to her mask, and spends the following days trying to find out who she is, putting up flyers. This comes as a surprise to Sam who had believed that he had forgotten all about her. Apparently, Austin secretly loved a girl by the name of Qin without the E. She also loved him, so Sam is quite jealous.

Sam attempts to tell Austin her identity several times, but she is foiled each time. Then, her evil stepsisters find her emails, and tell Austin's ex-girlfriend about Sam. At the school pep-rally, Sam's identity is revealed, to her embarrassment and Austin's. Her mother, having found Sam's acceptance letter in the mail, fakes one that says she didn't get in, when in reality Sam has.

Upset about how things turned out, Sam defies her stepmothers orders, and quits her job at the diner, causing all the other waitresses, Eleanor, Bobby and Rhonda to quit, leaving Fiona with a full diner and no one to manage. The same night, she confronts Austin in the changing rooms before the big football game and makes him consider some home truths. The game goes on, and as the crowd chants Austin's name, Sam goes to leave. Instead of playing the final play, Austin runs to Sam, and kisses her as the finally awaited rain comes and soaks the crowd.

They live happily ever after, going to their dream school, Princeton. It also turns out Sam inherited all of her father's belongings, when she finds his secret will (hidden in her fairytale book that her father read to her as a child). She takes over the diner, and her step-mom and sisters end up working there. (This is to pay off her debt because Fiona was the witness to her father's will and was therefore breaking the law by not bringing it forward.) The movie ends with Austin giving Sam her cellphone back, and them driving off into the sunset.

Trivia

• The stepsisters dressed in the colors of the two original stepsisters from the animated version of "Cinderella." Viewers will notice that they are in green, and orange / red throughout, as are Druzilla 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 Stevens (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 Carter, but had to drop out because of his role as Ron in Harry Potter.

See also

• The A Cinderella Story soundtrack album

External links

• Official site
• A Cinderella Story at the Internet Movie Database