Starring Sofia Carson, Jennifer Tilly, Thomas Law, and Amy Louise Wilson
Directed by Michele Johnson
Music and Lyrics by various
From 2008 to 2021, Warner Bros released a series of Cinderella fairy tales for teen girls set in modern times. The original from 2008 with Hilary Duff as the put-upon young woman who finds love isn't a musical, but the subsequent four direct-to-home-media movies were. This one may be the most musical of the bunch, given it involves the making of an actual Cinderella stage musical. Let's begin with a rousing musical number set around a car repair shop, as Tessa (Carson) dreams of stardom, and find out...
The Story: Tessa works hard as a mechanic to support her whiny stepsisters Athena (Wilson) and Olympia (Jazzara Jaslyn) and her obnoxious and silly stepmother Divine (Tilly). She accompanies them to a luxury hotel, where auditions for a major Cinderella musical featuring pop star Reed West (Law). Tessa bonds with makeup artist Georgie (Nicole Fortuin), who thinks she has what it takes to win that audition after seeing her dance with the other teens working at the hotel.
Georgie gives her a mole and a blonde wig and convinces her to audition. She aces it, and Reed's smitten...but he's also smitten with Tessa when she's able to repair the vintage motorcycle they're using for the show. Tessa's exhausted trying to be two people at once and frustrated over her relationship with Reed, especially after his director and manager Freddie Marks (David Ury) claims he's seeing singer Harper Halston (Ashley De Lange). Divine and her daughters have their own plans for this Cinderella, and they have no intention of letting her make it to the big finale!
The Song and Dance: Carson makes a charming Cinderella, both in the actual show that plays the story straight, and the film itself. She has fun with her two roles, reveling in showing up the boys when she can fix the motorcycle and the stagehands can't and attempting a (very bad) British accent as Bella Snow.
Favorite Number: We open with "Full Throttle," as Tessa dreams of stardom in a Grease-esque dance routine set in a fantasy car repair shop...which ends abruptly when she's brought back to real life by a fellow mechanic. "Stuck On the Outside" turns up several times, including for Reed when he's announcing the auditions and as the song Tessa/Bella sings at the audition. Georgie encourages Tessa to "Do You." Their routine is so infectious, the entire kitchen staff ends up dancing along, first around the appliances, then on the beach.
What I Don't Like: Tilly, Wilson, and Jaslyn are annoying and way too over-the-top, even for a wicked stepmother and stepsisters. They're too much for a story that should have been played more delicately. It's also more than obvious that this is a low-budget, direct-to-home-media feature. The musical is put on at a hotel? They couldn't try to get a larger theater, especially for a show featuring a supposedly huge pop star? The costumes are bargain-basement, off-the-rack prom gowns and goofy 80's-inspired neon travesties for Tilly and the stepsisters. The songs aren't really all that memorable, either.
And there's the obvious fact that the story is pure cliché, no matter how modern it is. You've seen this a thousand times before, and will see it many more times (including twice more in this series). It's not for those looking for a more original twist on this fairy tale.
The Big Finale: Cute time-waster for families with 8 to 14-year-old girls or those who must see every Cinderella adaptation that comes down the pike.
Home Media: Easy to find on DVD and streaming. Tubi currently has it for free with ads.
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