After having a great time writing about Barbie of Swan Lake a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to watch another cringey movie, but one that I would probably enjoy a little bit more. I was on Her Campus’ main site when I saw an article about rom-coms on Netflix which you can find here. On the list was the 2004 original movie A Cinderella Story featuring Hillary Duff (Sam) and Chad Michael Murray (Austin Ames). At first, I thought I would be watching this version, but when I searched A Cinderella Story, they had three different versions: the original, the Selena Gomez remake and the 2011 movie featuring Lucy Hale and Freddie Stroma. After careful deliberation, I decided to watch the one I was most unfamiliar with: the 2011 remake. I have seen the 2004 movie so often that I can probably quote some of the lines to you, and I’ve watched the Selena Gomez version almost as much, but the 2011 one? Well, I’ve probably seen it one or two times, and it’s my least favorite. Therefore, because I like torturing myself, of course, I picked Lucy Hale’s version. Here are my thoughts!
Does this jog your memory, or have you forgotten it completely, like I wished I did?
If you don’t know the plot of this one, A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song follows the story of Katie, played by Lucy Hale. She lives with her stepmother, her stepmother’s young son, and her stepmother’s teenage daughter, Bev. Luke Grimes, the son of a famous music producer, just enrolled at the school. The stepmother, Gail, is the headmaster. Luke is going to produce the winter showcase, hoping to show his father that he has what it takes to be in the business. Although Katie is the one with real talent, Gail devises a plan to make Bev look like the star by having Bev lip sync over Katie’s voice. Katie goes along with this whole plot because her inheritance is at stake. Along the way, Katie falls for Luke. Luke, however, starts dating Bev, but it’s actually Katie the whole time. Cue the drama!
So this movie is just one big old sigh. It’s a very Disney movie: a mildly interesting plot, cookie-cutter pop songs and an overused moral lesson about never giving up and being true to who you are. Also note that even though this feels Disney to me, it’s actually an ABC Family original (before they became Freeform). The only thing that makes A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song kind of stand out is the antics: the younger brother in this movie does some pretty crazy things, ala 8-year-old rebellion. Additionally, there is a dance, reminiscent of the dances in the original and the Selena remake, complete with disguises. I love that they kept this plot line in here. The dance stands out because it is Bollywood themed. Throughout the scenes, there were many people of color featured. I’m glad that they added a more diverse cast, as the whole sequence felt more like appreciation than appropriation.
The one downfall of A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song is that it doesn’t really make sense. Early in the movie, Luke’s father, Guy, hears Katie’s demo. But then he easily believes it is actually Bev singing when Gail tells him so and never follows up. At the Bollywood dance, Katie performs in front of Luke, and then when he later sees Bev lip sync, he just believes it. Even though they know Bev and Katie look nothing alike.
Here’s Katie when she’s singing to Luke at the Bollywood dance:
But this is what Luke sees a few minutes later, thinking that Bev is the singer from the night before, after he sees her lip syncing:
Does Luke not realize that these are two completely different people? I mean, he couldn’t clearly see Lucy Hale’s face at the dance, but come on! Look at the eyebrows! The jawline! These two women have completely different facial structures, and Luke, played by Freddie Stroma, just accepts that the person he saw last night is the girl above? Does the man have memory loss?
One of the only things that the film achieved was making me want to watch the other movies. Though the Bollywood dance number was really fun, it didn’t have the emotional value and fun shenanigans of the first movie or the chemistry of the second. The chemistry between Lucy Hale and Freddie Stroma was a bit off. I didn’t care that they got together; I only cared if Katie, Lucy Hale’s character, got her big break or not. The movie makes us empathize with Katie, but that’s about it. For me, there was too much focus on the lip syncing plot to ever establish a romance between the two characters, making the final scene lackluster.
The other thing this movie accomplished? Making me swoon over Freddie Stroma. That man is cute, but if I want to watch him again, then I’ll just watch the first season of Unreal, which is a TV show that gives an inside look at the behind the scenes of a Bachelor-esque show, with Freddie as the Bachelor.
Even Freddie Stroma’s smirk and beautiful hair couldn’t save this one.
A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song isn’t nearly as grating as Barbie of Swan Lake, but it’s nothing special. We have shenanigans to entertain younger kids, a love story for the older ABC Family demographic, bland songs and a baffling wardrobe. But what more can we ask for from an ABC Family original movie? Save your time and watch either the original one with Hilary Duff or the Selena Gomez remake.