A Cinderella Story - Film Review

Teenager Sam (Hilary Duff) is a slave to her wicked stepmother (Jennifer Coolidge), a nobody at school and has a nerdy male best friend who might as well be called Buttons.

But wait... Maybe something magical will happen in Sam’s life when her mysterious texting mate (Chad Michael Murray) invites her to the Halloween dance. Will Sam manage to pull Austin, the hottest boy in school? Or will he recognise the geek behind her feeble disguise? Will any part of this truly lame high-school romance surprise or move you?

In producing an update of the sooty wench’s fairy tale, the makers of this insulting, unremarkable tosh have ignored the fact that practically every high-school romance is a Cinders story already. Devoid of laughs, smart dialogue or star chemistry, yet bursting with stereotypes (bitchy cheerleaders, school goth) and malodorous cheese, A Cinderella Story merely succeeds in living up to its leading lady’s surname.