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Released by: Warner Brothers
Released on: September 6, 2011
Director: Damon Santostefano
Cast: Lucy Hale, Megan Park, Freddie Stroma, Jessalyn Wanlim
Year: 2011
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The Movie:
In the interest of full disclosure, it should be noted that at the time of this writing I am not, nor have I ever been, a little girl. As such, it's hard to put myself in the mind of a young girl and try to 'be' the target demographic for this movie. I did, however, have a younger sister growing up and I can say with a good amount of certainty that she probably wouldn't have thought too much of A Cinderella Story: Once Upon A Song (the third in the series, the first entry starring Hillary Duff and the second Selena Gomez), because it's a bad movie even by the lowest of standards.
The story follows a girl named Katie (Lucy Hale) who wants nothing more than to get out from under the clutches of her evil stepmother (Missy Pyle) and follow her dreams of becoming a singer. If her snippy stepmom weren't enough, she's also got some obnoxious siblings to contend with, primarily stepsister Bev (Megan Park) - her home life stinks. When Katie finds out that the new guy at school, Luke Morgan (Freddie Stroma), is the son of a famous producer, she manages to slip a demo into Luke's dad's briefcase. Dad digs what he hears, but unfortunately for Katie, the evil stepmother has been meddling and has tried to set up Katie's obnoxious stepsister with dreamy Luke. Everyone believes Bev to be the future singing sensation - what is Katie to do?
Trying to be objective, rather than let my personal disdain for formulaic kids films get in the way, the positives here are… well, there's one and that's Pyle as the stepmother. She's actually pretty good in the role and while she can't save what is otherwise a ridiculously contrived and predictable movie, she is at least good in her role. The rest of the cast? Pretty much completely disposable, really though in all fairness Lucy Hale comes across as a likeable enough sort. On top of that, there's no interest here on the part of the filmmakers for any sort of consistency, so while the film starts off as some sort of pre-teen dramady, it winds up throwing in completely out of place Bollywood style numbers and musical montages that are there not because they should be but because they're meant to cash in on the success of something like Glee and to zone in on American Idol wannabes - both already obnoxious shows to start with.
So to all the parents of pre-teen girls out there reading this (and we who work behind the scenes here realize the grand importance of Rock! Shock! Pop!'s content as a guide to what you should let your children watch - ok, maybe not…), you can and should do better than this. The problem with this movie isn't that it's meant for pre-teen girls, it's that it's bad. The story caters to stereotypes, the characters are thin and irritating and the whole thing is so superficial that it doesn't really offer much in the way of a message. There's nothing wrong with fluffy entertainment, particularly when its geared to a younger audience, but here the comedy comes courtesy of cheap and unfunny site gags and outside of Pyle's amusing efforts, there's not much else going for it. Even as a fairy tale story for little girls it's hard to stomach just how formulaic and flat out fake this all is. Pre-teen girls of America, you deserve better.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen image looks just fine. Detail is good as are colors and black levels are strong. The image is clean, colorful and looks pretty much exactly like you'd expect it to given its straight to video origins and HD source.
A Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound mix, in English, is the only audio option provided. It sounds just fine but outside of the musical numbers it's very front heavy and not much more than a standard stereo mix. The rear channels do spring to life when the music kicks in, however.
Extras include four featurettes running about twenty-six minutes in total. Here were learn how Lucy Hale prepared for the role, what went into Freddie Stroma's performance, how those involved with the dance choreography did their thing, and what it was like behind the scenes as seen through the lens of a Flip camera. A music video and a few trailers for other titles round out the extras. Menus and chapter selection are also included.
The Final Word:
If watching a bunch of vapid teens sing and attempt to emote is your thing, jump in. You'll love this movie - otherwise, don't bother. The story is predictable and pedestrian even by the standards of its target audience and while Warner's DVD looks and sounds just fine, this isn't a movie many are going to want to watch once, let alone go back to.
