In many ways a neat adaptation, but the whole thing is marred by a blunt , utilitarian script (characters may as well introduce themselves by listing their name, occupation and role that they're about to play in the story) that could perhaps have been saved by some truly spectacular acting and directing, but sadly that's not on display here.This also features a rather weird eleventh-hour introduction of magic into what had up until then been a realist piece. The finale is also very abrupt (an unfortunate carry-over from the novel, though) and seems to miss the apparent moral: that it's Clara's act of charity that finally makes her truly beautiful.Decent and certainly watchable, but still, I hope that Wicked receives a better treatment when it is ultimately adapted.

I loved this movie of classical romance and a different look at the common fairytale. I saw this movie when it aired on TV and have been waiting for it to come to video since. So, when will it be released? Huh? Huh? Huh? Great movie. I was just fifteen years old when I saw it and I was entranced by the movie's magic. This movie can appeal to any age. This movie is like Ever After meets King Arthur. It was refreshing to see a different side than the common Cinderella is the victim story. People got to see a touch at a sister and feel empathy for her. I think that the story was always meant to expand on the sisters. They shouldn't just be the ugly ones. There is inherently so much more depth to people.

to start, i have to say that i read the book long before this was ever on television...which is where a lot of this is coming from. i was really excited to see that it was to be on TV because i loved the book; it's well-written and thought-provoking and any other hyphenated adjective you can think of. needless to say, i was very disappointed with the adaptation, if you can even call it that...the characters have the same names, sure, and part of the basic skeleton is there, i guess. but the one of the best qualities of the book was completely ignored...its darkness. this movie is so sappy that i think i got a cavity just watching it. they made it nice and neat and bright and happy. which is really unfortunate because there are a lot of unexpected twists that gregory maguire adds to the Cinderella tale that are not all sweetness and good. that's what makes it different and interesting. but the movie is lacking so much. azura skye did an o.k. job with what she was given, but she's just not plain enough to pull it off as an "ugly" girl. stockard channing was not as good as margarethe, i think she was miscast, but again, she did what she could with what she was given. if i hadn't read the book, i'd say that it's not that it's a majorly bad TV movie by itself...again, if you haven't read the book, it's o.k. and not bad for kids, what with the nicey-nice message the saturated it with. but if you want the real story, as always...just read the book.

Much of the darkness has been stripped or made shallow for this movie, but overall, this was a charming version of Maguire's story. The acting was great (Stockard Channing RULES!), the scenery & cinematography was lovely, and the writers tried to stay true to Maguire's examination of the truth behind beauty versus ugliness. (And of course, neither of the stepsisters were *ugly*.)