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Cinderella

1997, Movie, 88 mins

Cinderella: Review

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Short, sweet and blindingly brightly colored, this briskly bland retelling of the evergreen fairy tale casts pop-princess Brandy as the put-upon step-daughter and Whitney Houston as her glammy, you-go-girl fairy godmother. In a vaguely 19th-century village whose look is equal parts mythical Ruritania and Pee-Wee's Playhouse-inspired chi-chi boutique hotel, good-hearted Cinderella waits hand and foot on her imperious stepmother (Bernadette Peters). The sight of a soft-spoken, young black woman treated like a slave by a rude white woman might carry disturbing overtones were it not for the film's cheerfully color-blind casting: One of Cinderella's vulgar stepsisters, Minerva (Natalie Desselle), is black, while the other, Calliope (Veanne Cox), is white. Further, the kingdom is ruled by benevolent monarchs Queen Constantina (Whoopi Goldberg) and King Maximillian (Victor Garber), whose harmoniously mixed marriage produced the handsome Filipino Prince Christopher (Paolo Montalban) — and why not, in a world where "a plain yellow pumpkin can become a golden carriage?" Queen Constantina, anxious to see her son married, throws a ball and Cinderella's stepmother is naturally determined that one of her girls will snare the royal catch. Cinderella can only dream of attending, until her fairy godmother stops by with some self-empowering advice — "Cinderella, if you're going to get out of here, you'll have to do it yourself!" — and a little magical help, including a lovely, pale-blue prom dress of a gown. Since her stepsisters are dressed in what appear to be oversized whorehouse lampshades, Cinderella outshines them effortlessly, and dances all night with the bedazzled prince. Musical purists dislike this film's pop-soul rearrangement of the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein score; the film also drops some numbers and adds three others: Falling in Love With Love (Rodgers and Hart), The Prince is Giving a Ball/Your Majesties (Rodgers and Hammerstein, additional lyrics by Fred Ebb) and The Sweetest Sounds (Rodgers). But overall it's a pleasant introduction to a classic musical, tweaked to catch the attention of contemporary youngsters. Neither Houston nor Brandy delivers what could be called a performance — they're just themselves, or at least the versions of themselves with which fans are familiar — but the supporting cast is unusually strong, notably old Broadway hands Garber, Peters and Jason Alexander, who plays snippy major domo Lionel with sardonic panache. Choreographer Rob Marshall, also a Broadway veteran, went on to direct CHICAGO (2002). leave a comment --Maitland McDonagh
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