According to producer Clifford Werber, the original Cinderella story was the "ultimate wish-fulfillment fantasy with an underlying message of empowerment."

However, if you can ignore such vacuous valley-speak, there is plenty to enjoy in this frothy - occasionally tart - rom-com confection.

Duff is Sam Montgomery, a teenager robbed of her beloved pop by the Californian north ridge earthquake. What a way to go.

She is now expected to wait hand and foot on her spiteful step-mum Fiona (Coolidge) - a double for Vanessa Feltz - and her nasty little daughters.

Step-mom's taken over pop's diner and turned it into a sweatshop where waitress (and fairy godmother) Rhonda (King) struggle to meet Fiona's shrill demands.

On the bright side, Sam gets texts and emails from a romantic stranger who sets her heart aflame because he's "all alone in a sea of people."

With Rhonda's help, Sam sneaks away from the night shift to the school dance…where she discovers her cyber soul mate is none other than sports jock Austin Ames (Michael Murray).

With a storyline all of use will be familiar with, this offers no real surprises but it's acted with enthusiasm and some decent lines find their way through.

Duff - her of the duck-voice and the look of constant bewilderment - delivers a competent performance while you get the feeling Michael Murray may not be the sharpest tool in the shed both on and off screen.

Highlights include a college fantasist whose a deadringer for a young Rigsby of Rising Damp fame (no bad thing) and Coolidge's full-blooded take on the step-mum from hell.

The old story gets a contemporary slant by virtue of Sam leaving her mobile at the ball instead of a glass slipper - which is also handy from a product placement perspective.

All in all, an inoffensively fun time is to be had. Even if young teenage girls don't live happily ever after, they'll be left happy.

Tim Evans