Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/488398
24 UCW APRIL 1-7, 2015 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Bibbiti-Bobbiti-Nope Cinderella (Rated PG) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS I didn't much care for Frozen, but as much as I dawdled on my way to see Cinderella (112 min- utes), I couldn't quite manage to miss the Frozen short, Frozen Fever that preceded the feature. It did absolutely zilch to change my mind about the co-dependent princesses, and put me in a mood to hate Cinderella even more than I had already planned. Ella (Lily James), a naïve fool with a variety of unhealthy delusions, lives with her mother (Hayley Atwell) and father (Ben Chaplin) on a small estate. Just as her mother was about to teach her karate and all the other stuff she learned while co-starring in Captain America, she died. Some years later, her father remarries Lady Tremaine (Cate Blanchett), bringing her and her stepdaughters to his home before dropping dead. Lady Tremaine, an intelligent and worldly woman trapped in a backwater full of thralls, picks up the pieces of her life and tries her best to become a complete person despite all the impediments the world placed in her way. Her two daughters, who clearly take after their father, torment Ella because they are incapable of accom- plishing much else. Lady Tremaine allows the girls to work it out themselves while teaching Ella a valuable lesson. Perhaps if Ella learned the lesson (when people call you names and disrespect you, kick them out of your house), her story would end differ- ently. Since Cinderella demonstrated her inabil- ity to learn that lesson, it is only fair that Lady Tremaine, the stronger woman, should take what Cinderella could not keep. Cinderella quickly figures out that she is no match for Lady Tremaine. She promptly settles into the attic with her talking mice and waits for the world to reward her kindness and beauty with a rich husband. Lady Tremaine finally manages to teach her that the world doesn't owe her anything by destroying her dress and waiting for her to show some initiative and take another dress from the hundreds available in the house. Instead, Cinderella slinks to the garden and pouts. Luckily, Helena Bonham Carter is there to remind her she possesses feet and can walk away from unpleasant situations all by herself. Whoops — she is the Fairy Godmother, the one that enables Cinderella to fulfill her destiny as a trophy wife. Overall, this version of the Cinderella story is pretty faithful to the Disney cartoon, to its detri- ment. Unlike the recent live-action updates of Sleeping Beauty and Snow White, there is abso- lutely no effort to rise above the source material and tell a more complicated tale. Coming from Shakespearean-style director Kenneth Branagh, that is more than disappointing. Would it have killed someone to incorporate some of the bloodier elements of the fairy tale? I can't be alone in wanting to see Blanchett employ knives to shorten the feet of the unworthy. For that matter, let's see the version of the story where Blanchett manages to win the much young- er prince even after Cinderella, the cruel and manipulative stepdaughter, tries to steal him with the help of her fairy godwitch and a cursed shoe. Within hours of ascending the throne, Blanchett's Lady Tremaine would have introduced matriar- chal rule, relegated the prince to mere gigolo and taken over all neighboring countries. We would call it The Stepmother and watch the money pile up. For Smokey Robinson Tickets call: Ticketmaster at 1-800-745-3000 or Visit the Crown Box Office: www.CrownComplexNC.com For Information Call: (910) 323-1991 • www.community-concerts.com 79th Season Presents Thursday, april 16, 2015 7:30 PM at the Crown Theatre HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200.