“Cinderella” (2021) is a Confusing, Schizophrenic Mess (Part II of II)
(Continued from Part I)
It’s no surprise that a film this oblivious to tone is entirely unconvincing in what should be the central romantic story between Ella and Prince Robert (Nicholas Galitzine). After the two meet each other for what appears to be the third time, they have a private moment at the castle in a room with a piano. There, they fall in love after the prince shows off his skills on the piano, then they break up because Ella isn’t ready to give up on her dreams of owning a shop, and then they make up after the prince plays the piano again. These ten minutes could have constituted an entire movie in a standard chick flick.
The underlying problem with the movie is that it doesn’t get the basics of filmmaking right, starting with ensuring that the dubbing isn’t a split second off whenever someone is singing. In a musical, it’s rather important to get that right. It’s also good to get the small things right, like letting the audience know early that while the three mouse (James Corden, etc.) may sound like they’re having a conversation in human language, Ella just hears them as chirping. That would have made the world Ella is in less confusing.
This film is another evidence that no amount of production value can cover for fundamental deficiencies. The producers undoubtedly splurged to hire talented actors Idina Menzel as the stepmother, Minnie Driver as the queen and Pierce Brosnan as the king, to dress them up in fine costumes, and to place them in extravagant set design, but all that money and effort are for naught as the film flounders in arbitrary screenplay and inconstant direction, both the courtesy of Kay Cannon.
The shame about this film is that there are signs of something that could have been. A black male (Billy Porter) as the fairy godmother Fab G was an intrigue, and the hip-hop narration, while reminiscent of the musical play “Hamilton,” was a fresh take on a Disney classic. Even the modern dialogue in the world of traditions may have worked if that was the only thing that was out of place. But whatever virtue these fresh perspectives could have brought simply drown in the vast sea of randomness.
I do wonder whether this film failed because it aimed too high in the realm of creativity. Did the filmmakers know what they were doing and did it poorly, or did they simply not have a clue and stumble into this mess? As much as I want to give the film credit for trying, all evidence on screen suggests the answer is the latter.
