History Film / ACinderellaStory

* IvyLeagueForEveryone: The fact Sam and her "prince" are both planning to go to Princeton is an important part of the plot.

* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler:Fiona and her daughters are put to work in the diner to pay back the money they stole from Sam. It's safe to say they are stuck there for the rest of their lives.]]

* MamaBear: Rhonda to Sam. Sam's the only reason Rhonda stayed at the diner all those years.

** Sam believes that her LoveInterest would, if he knew her true identity, bully her like everyone else. Unusually for films of this demographic, ''she's right''.
** Lying about signing a will as well as forcing a minor to work so many hours is illegal and causes Fiona and her daughters to be arrested and have to work off their debts.

* VetinariJobSecurity: Fiona can't fire Rhonda because her knowledge of the customers is the only thing keeping them coming back to the diner.

SpiritualPredecessor to ''Film/AnotherCinderellaStory'' and, subsequently, ''Film/ACinderellaStoryOnceUponASong'' and ''A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits''. A fifth film version, intended as a Christmas special, was released in 2019, titled ''Film/ACinderellaStoryChristmasWish''. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQI5rIwHpdY There is also a Bollywood remake.]]

* HollywoodLaw: It's impossible for Fiona to have "gotten everything" when Sam's father died without a will; under California intestate succession law, Sam would have been entitled to half of ''everything'' her father owned before he married Fiona. While this might not have completely prevented her from being financially exploited by her stepmother, it would have been much harder for Fiona to do so e.g. Rhonda or the authorities probably would have kept a close eye on Sam's finances to make sure they weren't being illegally accessed; and Fiona would have no excuse for forcing Sam to work in the diner under the pretence of saving up money for college if there was ''already'' money waiting for her in an inheritance account or trust fund.

* AlphaBitch: Shelby.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Sam, mostly because she doesn’t work at a cool job, even though she is a straight A student.

* ArtisticLicenceLaw:
** It's impossible for Fiona to have "gotten everything" when Sam's father died without a will; under California intestate succession law, Sam would have been entitled to half of ''everything'' her father owned before he married Fiona. While this might not have completely prevented her from being financially exploited by her stepmother, it would have been much harder for Fiona to do so e.g. Rhonda or the authorities probably would have kept a close eye on Sam's finances to make sure they weren't being illegally accessed; and Fiona would have no excuse for forcing Sam to work in the diner under the pretence of saving up money for college if there was ''already'' money waiting for her in an inheritance account or trust fund.
** Following on from that, California also has some ''really'' strict child labor laws, so Fiona is breaking the law in plain sight just by forcing the underage Sam to work what is essentially a fulltime job in the diner (past midnight on a school night at least once!) on top of trying to finish high school.

* TheBigDamnKiss: Between Sam and Austin, of course.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Fiona, before Hal died.

* ComingOfAgeStory

* DanceOfRomance: At the Halloween dance between Austin and Sam.
** Subverted between Sam and Terry.

* FallenPrincess: Sam.

* LovableJock: Austin.

* RealityEnsues: Sam believes that her LoveInterest would, if he knew her true identity, bully her like everyone else. Unusually for films of this demographic, ''she's right''.
** Lying about signing a will as well as forcing a minor to work so many hours is illegal and causes Fiona and her daughters to be arrested and have to work off their debts.

* SassyBlackWoman: Rhonda.

* {{Tomboy}}: Sam, due to her [[RaisedByDudes raised by her single dad.]] She loves and is good at sports, but is behind in makeup and fashion.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Sam and the stepsisters; Sam and Shelby.

* TheUnfavorite: Sam.

* WickedStepmother: Fiona.
* WitchWithACapitalB: Fiona, again.

** Austin was supposed to get up on stage during the pep-rally and try to save face by pretending that the whole thing was a joke he was in on. This explains why the faculty never punished Shelby, the stepsisters and their friends for the skit.

* HateSink: Shelby and her GirlPosse are obviously intended to be as despicable as possible, as they constantly bully poor Sam for being a "Diner Girl" and publicly humiliate Sam at the local pep-rally.

* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Sam.
* AndADietCoke: In one scene at the diner.

* KarmaHoudini: Shelby and her lackeys are never punished for the pep-rally, despite the fact that it's performed in front of the faculty. While she receives some LaserGuidedKarma in the end, it has nothing to do with the rally whatsoever. It can be assumed that they received punishment later on.

* PlatonicLifePartners: Neither Sam or Carter harbor any feelings towards each other, and are supportive of each other's respective love life's. Their friendship is strictly platonic.

* TooDumbToLive: The ugly stepsisters.
** They obviously got it from Fiona. "Norwegia"?
* TookALevelInJerkass: We don't actually see Fiona acting like the jerk she is until after Sam's father dies. Although, there is a hint of it in the wedding scene, when Fiona excluded Sam from the wedding photo.
* TrueBlueFemininity: All of Sam's everyday outfits are blue-themed.

* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:The fairytale book.]] When Sam's father died, she stated her stepmother inherited everything because he left no will. Then, in the end, [[spoiler:it's revealed he ''did'' leave a will inside the book]].

* GirlPosse: Shelby has one. Her main two lackeys, Madison and Caitlin, as well the rest of the cheerleading squad.

* MaleGaze: Parodied. When Sam dons a hula girl outfit, Carter puts on gag glasses, which has [[EyePop eyeballs that pop out.]]

* TomboyishName: '''Sam.'''

* YankTheDogsChain: There's so much to make you feel dead inside at the end, but especially the pep-rally scene.

** It's impossible for Fiona to have "gotten everything" when Sam's father died without a will; under California intestate succession law, Sam would have been entitled to half of ''everything'' her father owned before he married Fiona. While this might not have prevented her from being financially exploited by her stepmother, it would have been much harder for Fiona to do so e.g. Rhonda or the authorities probably would have kept a close eye on Sam's finances to make sure they weren't being illegally accessed; and Fiona would have no excuse for forcing Sam to work in the diner under the pretence of saving up money for college if there was ''already'' money waiting for her in an inheritance account or trust fund.
** Following on from that, California also has some ''really'' strict child labor laws, so Fiona is straight up breaking the law by forcing the underage Sam to work what is essentially a fulltime job in the diner (past midnight on a school night at least once!) on top of trying to finish high school.

** Following on from that, California also has some ''really'' strict child labor laws, so Fiona is straight up breaking the law by forcing the underage Sam to work what is essentially a fulltime job in the diner on top of trying to finish high school, as well as past midnight on a school night at least once.

* ArtisticLicenceLaw: It's impossible for Fiona to have "gotten everything" when Sam's father died without a will; under California intestate succession law, Sam would have been entitled to half of ''everything'' her father owned before he married Fiona. While this might not have prevented her from being financially exploited by her stepmother, it would have been much harder for Fiona to do so e.g. Rhonda or the authorities probably would have kept a close eye on Sam's finances to make sure they weren't being illegally accessed; and Fiona would have no excuse for forcing Sam to work in the diner under the pretence of saving up money for college if there was ''already'' money waiting for her in an inheritance account or trust fund.

* ArtisticLicenceLaw: It's impossible for Fiona to have "gotten everything" when Sam's father died without a will. Under California intestate succession law, Sam would have been entitled to half of ''everything'' her father owned before he married Fiona; while this might not have prevented her from being financially exploited by her stepmother, it would have been much harder for Fiona to do so e.g. Rhonda probably would have kept a close eye on Sam's finances to make sure they weren't being abused, and Sam likely wouldn't have been forced to work in the diner under the pretense of saving up money for college if there was already money waiting for her in a trust fund.

* ArtisticLicenceLaw: It's impossible for Fiona to have "gotten everything" when Sam's father died without a will. Under California intestate succession law, Sam would have been entitled to half of ''everything'' her father owned before he married Fiona; while this might not have prevented her from being financially exploited by her stepmother, it would have been much harder for Fiona to do so e.g. Sam likely wouldn't have been forced to work in the diner under the pretense of saving up money for college if there was already money waiting for her in a trust fund.

* ArtisticLicenceLaw: It's impossible for Fiona to have "gotten everything" when Sam's father died without a will. Under California intestate succession law, Sam would have been entitled to half of ''everything'' her father owned before he married Fiona; while this might not have prevented her from being financially exploited by her stepmother, it would have been much harder for Fiona to do so e.g. Sam wouldn't have been forced to work in the diner to save up money for college if there was money waiting for her in a trust fund.

* ArtisticLicenceLaw: It's impossible for Fiona to have "gotten everything" when Sam's father died without a will. Under California intestate succession law, Sam would have been entitled to half of ''everything'' her father owned before he married Fiona; while this might not have prevented her from being financially exploited by her stepmother, it would have been much harder for Fiona to do so.

* ArtisticLicenceLaw: It's impossible for Fiona to have "gotten everything" when Sam's father died without a will. Under California intestate succession law, Sam would have been entitled to half of everything her father owned before he married Fiona.

* WhenTheClockStrikesTwelve:...Sam has to be back at the diner.

* BeneathTheMask: Austin lives large as the BigManOnCampus...and hates it. Deep down, he wants to escape his controlling father and become a writer. (This is why he feels his relationship with Sam is so important- she sees him for who he is.)

* AdultsAreUseless: Despite being horrified at the pep rally, the adults do ''nothing'' to punish Shelby and the other students for humiliating Sam. They at least take Sam's side later in the film.

* AdultsAreUseless: Subverted. Sam is humiliated in front of everyone at the pep-rally... while the school staff are horrified. And they side with her when she ends up with Austin instead of Shelby.