A Cinderella Story Details

After bowling over adolescent girls in the Freaky Friday remake, Chad Michael Murray reinforces his pin-up status with another romantic role. In a high-school-set reworking of the Cinderella fairy tale, Murray's modern-day Prince Charming may do his wooing via cyberspace but he still manages to live up to the archetype. Little wonder, then, that orphaned student Hilary Duff is smitten by the initially anonymous, online sweet-talker, who's a dreamy diversion from the cruel demands of her self-obsessed stepmother (Jennifer Coolidge) and spiteful stepsisters. Visually Duff and Murray make a cute couple, even if neither are particularly charismatic, and their overall enthusiasm has a saccharine appeal. Unfortunately their performances are undermined by corny dialogue and a hackneyed plotline that updates the original story too literally. Though the cheeky humour has its occasional moments, as does the Pretty in Pink-style bitchiness, ultimately you need to be a pre-teen to appreciate this movie.

A more original story might have added a little vitality to this tired and saccharine confection for dim-witted lovers.