Release Date: 9 September 2004

Synopsis (Courtesy from Warner Bros) :

In this twisted and hilarious update of the classic fairy tale, high school senior Sam Montgomery (Hilary Duff) lives at the beck and call of her self-obsessed step-mother Fiona (Jennifer Coolidge) and her sinfully wicked step-sisters. Sam finds her less-than-sparkling social life wonderfully complicated when she meets her prince charming online. But when her anonymous cyber soul mate turns out to be her high school's uber-popular quaterback Austin Ames (Chad Michael Murray), Sam make a mad dash back to reality, leaving her cell phone behind just before the clock strikes midnight. Fearing rejection if her secret is revealed, Sam dodges Austin's efforts to discover the identity of his princess. Will Sam let fear hold her back or will she find the courage to be herself and claim the life she's always wanted? Her chance at happily ever after depends on it.

Review:

The miracles of Short Message Sending (SMS) and online chatroom had brought Cinderella and Prince Charming together as anonymous soul mates. When they finally met in a school prom, Cinderella hides her beauty behind a mask and abruptly left
when the clock strikes midnight, leaving only a cellphone for the devastated Prince Charming.

The Prince was determined to recover Cinderella. However, to much dismay, Cinderella decided to dodge the Prince for fear of rejection if he found out that she is merely a simple waitress in a 50's deco diner, who toiledl through her daily life scrubbing the tables and floor and running errands for her wicked family.

Fortunately, with the encouragement from her friends, especially a long-service waitress of the diner, Rhonda, Cinderella finally gathers her strength to stand up against her family and fight for her true love. The classical fairy tales of "Cinderella" had undergone a major makeover and the end-result is this fun and hilarious romantic high school comedy. In this modernised
version, Cinderella is an inferior high school teen, Sam Montgomery (Hilary Duff) and Prince Charming is Austin Ames (Chad Michael Murray), a high school football celebrity under intense pressure from his father to pursue a future he is uncertain of.

Although with a story line that was told over dozen times, the magic in this movie lies in its theme that suggest the World as a masquerade. Many of us felt a need to hide our true inner self from scrutiny by wearing heavy make up, wearing nice suit, and driving cool cars. In the movie, Sam and Austin only dares to freely revealed their true character in the cyber space. Sam's step-mother, Fiona is always hunting for the best cosmetic procedures to makes herself more beautiful. Sam's close friend, Carter always dresses in outrageous costumes to avoid been classified as a nerd. Even the school cheerleader's Captain, Shelby is nothing but a despicable beauty queen under the shell of an Angel.

However, beneath all the disguise and pretence in this World, there is always hope that ultimately things would turns well for those who deserve it and the bad guys would get their verdict at the end of the day. Presented in a neat and organised fashion, this movie has a typical "happy-ever-after" plot that sure will delight many.

Movie Rating: C

Review by Leosen Teo