directed by Mark Rosman
I’m sure that a lot of you recognise Jennifer Coolidge thanks to her role in “The White Lotus” series, but I’d like to tell you about the film in which I saw her for the first time and knew right away that she’s a true diva of the acting world. Today’s comedy is a modern (well… for some of you not that modern anymore) adaptation of the Cinderella tale. Sam (Hilary Duff), our film Cinderella, is a little girl being raised by her dad Hal (Whip Hubley) who owns a diner. One day, he gets married to Fiona (Jennifer Coolidge), a horribly vain woman with two spoilt daughters. When Hal dies in an accident, Sam has to stay with her stepmother and stepsisters, who treat the girl like a servant. She doesn’t fight with the three house witches as she hopes to get accepted to Princeton and then get money for studying from Fiona, which is actually Hal’s money, just being frivolously managed by the widow. But hey, where’s the prince, right? We need a prince! And then, Chad Michael Murray appears. If you were already on this planet in the 90s and didn’t have a crush on him, you must be a very straight man, there’s no other option. So if you ask me – perfect choice. Anyway, Austin, because that’s the name of the “prince”, is a sport star at Sam’s high school. Even though those two don’t really hang out together, they seem to know each other better than expected. It’s because they’ve been chatting anonymously and seems like it’s not just some friendly chatting anymore. So, the time has come and Austin proposes a meeting in real, which totally terrifies Sam, even though she doesn’t even know that her charming penpal is Austin. Soon, they are about to have a Halloween party at their school and it’s just a perfect moment for those two to meet. But if you know the tale of Cinderella, you already know it’s not going to be that easy. I have to say that this film is my absolute guilty pleasure that I love getting back to as it reminds me of my teenage times and hopeless dreams of randomly bumping into Chad Michael Murray somewhere. Haven’t happened, but the hope is not dead yet, my dear. Seriously speaking, it really is a fun comedy with a great cast (Regina King as Rhonda – mamma mia, brilliant! I wish I had such fairy godmother), legendary lines (“I’m a very appealing person!”), mocking elites (water, honey, water), praising hardworking individuals and giving those positive vibes that everything has a happy ending. Plus, I truly believe it’s a very good idea for an adaptation; this whole chatting between Sam and Austin, the diner staff as Sam’s supporters, her reason for staying with the stepmother – all that made sense and was quite attractive for us back then in 2004. This film is iconic. It’s not a masterpiece that needs to be analysed by film critics so they can write overly poetic reviews. But it is iconic. And it will stay iconic. So feel free to watch it and admire Fiona’s $150 manicure.
My rating: 8/10
S.
I have nothing to watch 