Well, it is a fairy story, (sort-of), with an awful step- mother(Huston), and step-sisters, one of whom looks so much like the main character Danielle (Barrymore) that I had difficulty connecting with either! So, the casting people could have done better? The other sister is blonde, and instantly recognisable.Prince Henry (Dougray Scott) is the star of this movie for me, although the others get the main billing. He gets a lot of time and can show a lot of emotion and attitude that adds so much to any movie. And I liked the brief appearance of Timothy West as the Prince's father. And then there is Leonardo Da Vince no less! and he gets some great lines and scenes.

This is a Cinderella story, a famous fairy tale. Daniel is a girl who grows with her father's full of love. The life is so happy; however, suddenly she loses her father because of disease. She feels grief, and what is worse, her stepmother force her to labor as a servant in a house. One day, she encounters a man who rides on a horse, and she misunderstands the man tries to rob her father's horse, therefore, she throws a stone toward him. Later, she realizes he is a prince and she apologizes to him. He is so kind a person and since then the relation between the two gets better. The prince declares that he finds his future wife in a dance party because he does not want to marry a woman his father introduce. His real purpose is to get Daniel. Daniel manages to prepare for the party and goes there. Although she meets the prince again, her stepmother comes out that Daniel is a servant in public. Therefore, the reunion results to fail. However, the prince learns what is a genuine love. The first time I watched this film, I was so impressed and attracted because this is different from Cinderella story I've known. The part which shows such a different thing from what I've known is that Daniel fight for the prince or herself with bad people. A clip where Daniel uses sword is amazing. Such a powerful and beautiful woman is touching my heart. In addition to this, dance party scene is excellent, especially, just when Daniel arrives at the party. This is one of my favorites. I want to watch it again.

If I could give this movie a million stars I would! This is the best Cinderella story ever (besides the Disney one). It's very realistic but still a fairy tale. Drew Barrymore is an excellent actress and Angelica Houston is just perfect. My husband watched it for the first time when we were just dating and he thought it was really good. I think he might be a little tired of it now though since I watch it all the time. I haven't really met anyone who doesn't like this movie. It's hard not to like it. It's a romantic movie with comedy and action. When Henry goes to rescue Danielle from that bad guy (I can never remember his name) and she basically rescued herself LOL I love it!

The well known familiar fairy tale is bought into Renaissance Italy. Her evil stepmother Rodmilla (Anjelica Huston) has reduced Danielle (Drew Barrymore) to little more than a maid after the death of her father. Marguerite (Megan Dodds) is the horrible stepsister, and Jacqueline (Melanie Lynskey) is nice one. Prince Henry (Dougray Scott) can't stand his home, and runs into Danielle one day as well as Leonardo da Vinci (Patrick Godfrey) rescuing his Mona Lisa painting. Leonardo would be the fairy godmother.Drew Barrymore is doing a weird British accent in a costume drama taking place in 16th century Italy. There are castles and horses but little grandeur. Although it's a nice idea, it doesn't have any tension or magic. It's not gritty enough to be real nor beautiful enough to be fanciful. The story itself is good triumphing over evil just like the fairy tale.