‘Cinderella’ is a classic fairytale that everyone knows.
‘A Cinderella Story,’ starring Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray, is a classic 00’s teen movie everyone needs to know. I decided to re-watch this masterpiece for the first time since I saw it in theaters when I was literally six years old and record all my thoughts in the process. It was a very tedious experiment, but I’m pretty happy with my results!
If you somehow forgot the plot of or have just never seen ‘A Cinderella Story,’ it revolves around Hilary Duff’s character, Sam. When her father dies in a tragic earthquake, she’s left with her evil stepmother, Fiona, and two evil stepsisters. Fiona makes Sam work all the time at the family diner, and generally treats her like crap. All of that changes when Sam starts unknowingly messaging Austin Ames, the most popular boy in school. When they agree to meet at a school dance, Sam freaks out when she realizes it’s Austin she’s been messaging this whole time and wears a mask to hide her identity. Austin then starts a school-wide search to find his Cinderella, and drama ensues from there!
Without further ado, here are 52 thoughts I had while re-watching 'A Cinderella Story' :
1. Apparently, smog in California was as big of a problem in 2004 as it is now
2. When Sam’s dad meets Fiona (the evil stepmother) for the first time, she literally falls into his arms and he dips her dramatically
Why does this never happen in real life?!
3. “Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game” is a quote to live by!
4. My new goal is to be a synchronized swimmer
Lady Liberty! Around the harbor!
5. There were some straight up bops in this movie!
Including Hilary Duff originals, “Our Lips Are Sealed” (Feat. Haylie Duff!) and “Girl Can Rock.”
6. Rhonda, a waitress at Fiona’s Diner, is actually the best
7. Carter has the best fashion out of anyone in this world
8. 99.9% sure the girl from 'The Nanny' is one of the evil the stepsisters
Yup! Her name is Madeline Zima, and she played Grace Sheffield on 'The Nanny!'
9. Also pretty sure Terry is the guy from 'The Big Bang Theory.'
Right again! And Sam isn’t too thrilled when she thinks he’s Nomad609.
10. Sam’s flip phone is iconic!
“Laugh out loud!”
11. Nomad609 and Princetongirl818 are the most iconic AIM usernames I’ve ever heard
12. Jennifer Coolidge is hilarious in this movie
13. Sam and Austin’s Dads look freakishly alike
For a split second, I thought I had forgotten a major plot line in which this movie takes a ‘Game Of Thrones’-esque turn and Sam’s dad comes back to life to reveal she and Austin are actually related.
14. When Shelby asks if the diner has anything carb, sugar and fat-free, Sam replies with her infamous “water” line
Austin loved it so much he immediately broke up with Shelby seconds later.
15. But, if he was dating Shelby, that means he was talking to another girl online while dating still dating her
That honestly makes Austin kind of a dick :(
16. Further proof of Austin being the worst: When Shelby asks if he’s in love with somebody else, he immediately responds “I think so”
Calm down, Arie!
17. It’s actually kind of funny how Shelby, for some reason, doesn’t accept this breakup and still expects him to take her to the dance
18. Again, Carter kills it in the outfit department
19. How the hell did Carter get his hands on his dads prized Mercedes after it was mentioned not 20 minutes ago he totaled all of his other cars????
20. Sam’s diner family (the employees at the diner) is the purest thing!!
21. There’s a costume montage where Sam tries on different, crazy outfits to music and I love it!
22. How big is this schools budget?
It’s not even prom and this dance is being held at a boujee hotel!
23. Carter may have some competition in the outfit department with the Siamese cat twins
Side note: how did Shelby and her friends not get dress coded for dressing up as Victoria's Secret Angels to a school dance?
24. Austin’s three-musketeer costume apparently “got lost”
I don’t buy it, he definitely just wanted to be the center of attention!
25. Hilary Duff was, is, and always will be a queen
26. Flip phone on the high heel!!
27. Austin finds Sam, who he somehow doesn’t recognize even though she’s just wearing a mask, and then says this - “I didn’t do a very good job of hiding who I am”
YOU DIDN'T EVEN TRY, AUSTIN!! You could have at least put on a hat.
28. Apparently, Starbucks was also just as popular as smog in 2004
29. Austin then throws some major shade at Shelby and her water by saying “I like a girl with a hearty appetite” to Sam
30. Carter saving Shelby from being sexually assaulted while in costume is the best scene in this whole movie
31. Okay, the Sam and Austin dance in the outside gazebo is pretty cute
They somehow even managed to have their own violinist play “I’ll Be” by Edwin McCain!
32. Now, I think I can guess what Shelby whispered in Carter's ear that made him so happy
33. Yup
34. One of the cat twins illegally stepping on the gas while Fiona is driving, in order to catch Sam before she gets back to the diner, is super dangerous, and almost kills everyone on the road
35. I noticed the 2SAM564 license plate
I did some hardcore journalistic research (and by that I mean I used Google) and found out that this license plate is used in a bunch of films and shows, such as ‘Ray Donovan’ and ‘The Fast and the Furious 7.”
36. Carter predictably ruins another one of his dad’s cars when the diner’s sign falls on top of it.
At least he still has his bomb outfit!
37. Austin really went ham trying to find Cinderella/Sam. He literally plastered posters all over the school!
38. Austin is literally treated like a superstar in this school
This is literally a crowd of girls pretending to be Cinderella so they can date Austin.
39. This line made me uncomfortable
40. That’s why!
Ryan is a high school student!
41. The twins are wearing the same outfit even though they didn’t know the other was going to find Austin and pretend to be Cinderella
Do they just naturally do that? Is that what twin telepathy is?!
42. At one point, the evil twins get in a fight in Austin’s father’s carwash, and Austin hears their screams yet completely ignores it
WTF Austin??
43. Austin then goes to the diner, looks into Sam’s eyes (which he previously stated were the most beautiful eyes he’s ever seen), and still doesn’t recognize her. Even when she used the metaphor of WEARING A MASK.
Someone, please tell me how this boy got into Princeton.
44. King Carter coming through with another great outfit!
45. The cheerleaders’ put on a play exposing Sam is Cinderella, and essentially bully her to the point where she runs away crying, at the school pep rally. How did no teachers shut this down?!
46. Austin then continually proves he’s actually the worst by not attempting to reach out to Sam for days
47. Sam is a bad*ss b*tch and tells off Fiona, and puts Austin in his place, all in one day!
48. “Waiting for you is like waiting for rain in this drought. Useless and disappointing”
Another amazing quote!
49. Carter finally dressing as himself, and not some crazy character, made my heart explode!
50. Literally, the whole crowd is cheering for Austin
You can’t tell me he doesn’t get special treatment at this school!
51. And here’s the infamous dad telling his son, “You’re throwing away your dream!” line, and the predictable, “No dad, I’m throwing away yours!” response from Austin
How hard is it to understand he wants to go to Princeton, not play football!
52. Austin probably shouldn’t have left the game with one winning touch down to go, but I’ll admit the “rain in the drought” kiss is pretty cute
Then the movie ends with Sam finding her father’s hidden will inside the old storybook he used to read her bedtime stories from. Sam gets the diner, Fiona ends up working for her, Carter books an acne commercial, and Sam and Austin go off to Princeton together and live happily ever after! Or at least until Austin inevitably fails out of Princeton, because how could he survive an Ivy League school if he literally couldn’t figure out Sam was Cinderella in a mask!
‘A Cinderella Story’ is available to watch on Netflix.
