A Cinderella Story

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Directed by	Mark Rosman
Produced by	Ilyssa Goodman Hunt Lowry Dylan Sellers Clifford Werber
Written by	Leigh Dunlap
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Released	16 July 2004
Running time	95 min
Language	English
Budget	$20,000,000 USD (est.)

Cast overview, first billed only:

Hilary Duff	Sam
Jennifer Coolidge	Fiona
Chad Michael Murray	Austin Ames
Dan Byrd	Carter
Regina King	Rhonda
Julie Gonzalo	Shelby
Lin Shaye	Mrs. Wells
Madeline Zima	Brianna
Andrea Avery	Gabriella
Mary Pat Gleason	Eleanor
Paul Rodriguez	Bobby
Whip Hubley	Sam's Dad
Kevin Kilner	Austin 's Dad
Erica Hubbard	Madison
Simon Helberg	Terry

A Cinderella Story (2004) is a teen romance film 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, Regina King, Julie Gonzalo, and Lin Shaye.

Plot and/or ending details follow

The movie begins with Sam (Duff) as a young girl with her dad. He meets her stepmother, and they marry, before he dies in an earthquake, and she is forced to live with her stepmother, as her father left no will. Her mother owns every thing, including her dad's diner.

Sam attends a typical school, and she is not popular, with only one close friend, Carter. She does however, have a cyber relationship with a secret male. They send messages to each other via SMS and email. They agree to meet at the homecoming dance. They meet, and she is surprised to see her prince charming is in fact football player, and popular guy, Austin Ames ( Murray) He is unaware of her identity, due to her mask, and spends the next days trying to find out who she is.

Sam attempts to tell Austin her identity several times but they all get foiled. Then her evil stepsisters see her emails, and tell Austin's ex-girlfriend about Sam. Then, at the school pep-rally, Sam's identity is revealed, to her embarrassment.

Upset about how things turned out, Sam defies her stepmothers orders, and quits her job at the diner. The same night, she confronts Austin before the big football game. 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.

They live happily ever after. It also turns out Sam inherited all of her father's belongings, when she finds his secret will. She takes over the diner, and her step-mum and sisters end up working there. The movie ends with Austin giving Sam her cellphone back, and them driving off into the sunset.

Synopsis

Cute but geeky high-school student Samantha Martin (Hilary Duff) is knocked off her feet by her father's untimely death, which leaves his diner and Samantha's well-being in the care of Fiona (Jennifer Coolidge), Sam's thoroughly wicked stepmother. Not one to take on such menial tasks as dishwashing and mopping floors, Fiona exploits Sam's dependence as a method of hoisting any dirty work off her own shoulders. School is hardly a break for Samantha, particularly when Shelby (Julie Gonzalo) is around; spoiled, wealthy, and popular, Shelby treats Samantha nearly as badly as Fiona does. Samantha's life is irrevocably changed, however, by two events: a makeover of epic proportions and a sudden electronic correspondence with a mysterious young man. Due to a misplaced cell phone and a series of fateful coincidences, Samantha and her Prince Charming develop a romance through text messages and e-mails, and ultimately promise to meet face-to-face at the biggest school dance of the year. Of course, getting there doesn't go smoothly, and Samantha may miss her chance to meet her dream date -- none other than Austin (Chad Michael Murray), the most popular boy in school.

Article

A Cinderella Story (2004) is a teen romance film 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, Regina King, Julie Gonzalo, and Lin Shaye.

User Comments:

31 out of 38 people found the following comment useful:-
Sweet, and heart warming, 13 February 2005

Awards: 4 win & 8 nominations

A Cinderella Story

Golden Trailer Awards
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
2004	Nominated	Golden Trailer	Best Voice Over
Kids' Choice Awards, USA
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
2005	Won	Blimp Award	Favorite Movie Actress Hilary Duff Also for Raise Your Voice (2004).
Razzie Awards
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
2005		Razzie Award	Worst Actress Hilary Duff Also for Raise Your Voice (2004).
Teen Choice Awards
Year	Result	Award	Category/Recipient(s)
2005	Won	Teen Choice Award	Choice Movie Blush Scene Hilary Duff Sam at the school rally.
			Choice Movie Sleazebag Jennifer Coolidge
	Nominated	Teen Choice Award	Choice Date Movie
			Choice Movie Actress: Comedy Hilary Duff
			Choice Movie Chemistry Hilary Duff Chad Michael Murray
			Choice Movie Liplock Hilary Duff Chad Michael Murray
			Choice Movie Love Scene Chad Michael Murray Hilary Duff Austin and Sam's dance scene.
2004	Won	Teen Choice Award	Choice Breakout Movie Star - Male Chad Michael Murray
	Nominated	Teen Choice Award	Choice Movie of the Summer

Review

Your perfect family film. Has your normal crushes and such. Lots of self confidence, and showing how much you need your friends. That timeless, and useful quote, "never let the fear of striking out, keep you from playing the game"...after I saw that movie, and heard that line, i changed my lifestyle of leaving everything, calm , boring, and not the way i wanted it. I was afraid that I wouldn't be accepted if i didn't do a certain thing, or if I did a certain thing. I was wrong, and this movie, strange as it may sound, gave me the nerve to do some things I never would have done on my own. Definitely something to see if your feeling left out, or need something that will show you, that dreams can come true.

DVD

Genre : Comedy / Family / Romance

Plot Outline : Routinely exploited by her wicked stepmother, the downtrodden Sam Montgomery is excited about the prospect of meeting her Internet beau at the school's Halloween dance.
User Comments: Sweet, and heart warming

Also Known As :
MPAA: Rated PG for mild language and innuendo.
Runtime: 95 min
Country: USA / Canada
Language: English
Color: Color
Sound Mix: DTS / Dolby Digital / SDDS
Certification: Iceland:L / Malaysia:U / USA:PG (certificate #40835) / Argentina:Atp / Australia:PG / Canada:G / Finland:K-7 / Germany:o.Al. / Philippines:G / Singapore:PG / UK:PG

Trivia: The necklaces around Carter's neck in his first scene were taped on to his shirt to avoid any noise the microphone would pick up.

Goofs: Revealing mistakes: When Carter is setting a timer on Sam's cell phone, the cell phone screen is black and that the phone is off.

Hilary Duff Stars in the Teen Romantic Comedy, "A Cinderella Story"

Do you believe in happily ever after?
I don't know. I would like to. I'm only 16. I don't really know (laughing). I don't really know if I believe in that kind of stuff.

Are you searching for happily ever after?
No, I'm not searching. I mean, I work a lot and I don't have time to think about that kind of thing. Maybe someday.

So right now, work is more of a priority than having a good personal life?
No. Both things are very important to me. But I think that right now, I'm really focused on work and it's hard to kind of have a relationship and try and search for the perfect person in my life.

When there is someone special in your life, what sort of things do you like to do?
Well, I'm kind of like ‘Sam’ in a way. You're very cautious and you don't want to put yourself out there to get yourself let down or hurt or something. But I guess if you really care about someone and they really care about you too, then you sometimes just go for it and let everything go. And have fun with it. It can be exciting.

Would you describe yourself as an ambitious person?
Definitely.

How do you stay on top in such a competitive market?
It is so competitive. There are so many great movies coming out every single day and like great projects. I don't know if I think about it as being competitive like, “I better get this. If I turn this down, so and so is going to take it.”

I don't really think about it too much. I have a really great team around me that helps me. Of course, sometimes I think, “Oh well, I should probably do this or that.” But it's really fun for me. Even though I do work my butt off, I still have a good time and try to not make it competitive.

Do you see your life as being a kind of fairy tale?
Yes. I don't think that I necessarily relate to this story but definitely, I feel lucky, very lucky all the time. Why is this me and why do I get this? You know?

Are you ever torn between music and acting?
Sometimes. They're such different feelings. When I'm on tour, I'm in a new city every single night, and the energy and the crowds and the kids and the screaming and them knowing every single word of my music and being onstage is such an energetic feeling with a big payoff. Working on a movie, things are a little more slower paced. But sometimes if I'm in the middle of touring, I'll be like, “Man, I really wish that I was working on a movie right now.” Or if I'm working on a movie, I'll be like, “Oh, I wish that I was touring right now.” I just love them both so much. It's hard to choose which is the best.

How about doing a musical film?
Yeah. I would definitely do that. Actually, I have a movie that I just filmed called “Raise Your Voice” and I got to sing in that movie and perform.

Who is in “Raise Your Voice” with you?
It's with Rita Wilson and John Corbett and Oliver James and Rebecca DeMornay and it's about a young girl. It's actually very dramatic. I get to sing a little bit in the movie, but it's a different kind of thing. It's not like a musical.

Was there ever any talk of doing a more fantastic “Cinderella” and not setting it so much in the real world?
No. There was never that. I feel like that there've been so many remakes of “Cinderella” and there's never really been like a modern day, high school version of it. I love that about it. I love that the characters are very different. Each character kind of had a twist to it, and especially Sam. Like, she was very ambitious. She was a very ambitious person and even though she was put down throughout the whole movie and torn down and told that she was nothing, she still had goals for herself and she had dreams that she'd accomplish herself. Then the boy came, which is great. But it's a good message for girls.

In real life, what’s the greatest thing about your friends?
My friends are really great. And they're really supportive. I don't think that they really care anything about this stuff. I don't really have that many friends. I try and stick to a small group of people, and they go on tour with me and they come and travel with me and stuff like that. They know how hard it is for me to work sometimes and not just get to have that completely normal life.

What’s the big sacrifice of being Hilary Duff’s friend?
I feel so bad sometimes when they're like, “Let’s go to the movies,” and I'm like, “It's Saturday, and it's 7:30pm and there's so many people at the movies right now.” Like going to my favorite restaurant, it can sometimes get hard. I just can't go to the mall. But they're so supportive and they understand.

How do you make yourself unrecognizable if you want to go to a movie?
Basically, you can't. Like, I've tried everything. My hair really gives it away, too. But I'll put it all up in a baseball cap and pull it down low and I try not to wear like sunglasses because if you wear sunglasses, if you see someone who walks into the room with sunglasses, aren't you going to look at them and think, “Who's hiding under there?” So why would you do that?

Can you talk about working with Jennifer Coolidge, who plays your larger-than-life step mom in this movie?
I think that she's larger than life all of the time.

She's so funny and I had a really hard time working with her actually because I couldn't keep a straight face. Everything that she did in this movie wasn't written. She is so creative and such an amazing actress. I was like, “How do you come up with these choices?” I love watching her. She's great.

What about working with Chad Michael Murray?
Chad was great. He's very charming and very nice and a great actor. We've actually remained friends since the movie. He's in Australia right now working on another movie, but he's a great person.

You started performing so young. How did you ever get the idea you wanted to do this?
Well, I think that I did my first commercial when I was about six years old. And I didn't really know if I wanted to do it yet. I have an older sister named Haley and she wanted to be an actress. So I wanted to be an actress. It's really funny the way that some people don't give kids enough credit for like really being driven, and really wanting to do things so badly. When I was six and I filmed that commercial, I just thought that it was fun and then I was kind of like, “Ah, whatever.” I went back to school for a little while and then when I was 10, I met this girl who was our neighbor and she was like, “You could get real movies and stuff like that.” I was like, “What?” Then I just begged my parents to come out here and do it. Then you just get this feeling of wanting to accomplish something and auditioning and stuff like that. My parents just really supported it and my mom worked her butt off and sacrificed so much and we made it happen.

How often do you get to see your dad?
Oh, I get to see him every three weeks. He'll come out to visit and he's going to come on tour a little bit this summer, but he has his job there. And we go back for all the main holidays. We keep a good, tight knit family even though it's kind of long distance.

How has your life and success been like a Cinderella story?
My life really doesn't relate to the movie too much. I never really struggled at home with a bad family life or nothing too traumatic like that.

But are there similarities?
Definitely, for sure. I'm trying to think of a good answer to that. Definitely before I got my TV show, it was such a struggle. It was going on hundreds and hundreds of auditions and maybe not getting any callbacks. My mom prepared us really well for handling rejection and not taking it too seriously and stuff. But I feel very lucky and I feel very blessed.

When you were in school, did you have a terribly embarrassing moment like Sam does in this movie?
No. I stopped going to school in the middle of fourth grade. Everyone grows up with the peer pressure, and kids being mean to each other in school. I think that's such a horrible thing, but I never really dealt with it in a high school way.

Were you home schooled?
I had a tutor for four years.

Can you talk about your new single with your sister?
I wanted to do something with my sister and we had a whole list of songs that we could do. Our favorite movie is “Romy & Michelle’s High School Reunion” and that was in that movie. So we were so excited about that. “Oh my God, we can do this song!” So we did it and it's also such a good message, talking about jealousy and how people are very negative and you can rise above it and stuff. We had so much fun shooting the video together, too.

Will you and your sister sing on stage together?
She'll be doing songs to open the show and then I'll do my show, which is an hour and ten minutes. Then we'll come out and do the last song together.

Do you have other movie projects in the works?
Yes. Let’s see: “Raise Your Voice” comes out and then “The Perfect Man” comes out and then the tour. Then there's just a couple of other things going on. “The Perfect Man” is with Heather Locklear.

Would you ever go back to “Lizzie McGuire?”
No.