Divine and the girls are going on vacation to a VIP experience with dreamy pop sensation Reed West (Thomas Law), and a production of Cinderella will take place on site, with the performers being selected from the pool of VIP attendees. Divine plans on forcing her talentless girls into stardom since she feels it is their birthright, because Madonna is a distant cousin, but very distant from the looks of it. Poor Tessa gets to tag along and function as a beleaguered assistant.
While there, Tessa meets a sweet make-up artist named Georgie (Nicole Fortuin) and the two hit it off, and she also helps to repair a vintage motorcycle to be used in the production, earning her the respect of a group of stage hands and the notice of Reed West. After a rousing dance number with the hotel staff, Georgie convinces Tessa to try out at the audition, even if she has to do it in disguise, and with a wave of Georgie's magic make-up brushes, some cool clothes from wardrobe, and a long blonde wig, Tessa is transformed into Bella Snow, a British star in the making. Because the rest of the "talent" is so abysmal, Bella quickly wins the role, but she must continue to function as Tessa, so she doesn't tip Divine off and blow the whole deal. Meanwhile, Tessa and Reed seem to be crushing on one another, so that only means she wants to be in one more place, when she needs to be acting as Bella the star and Tessa the slave. The whole scenario is really ridiculous and silly, but the contrived premise is sandwiched in between some cute musical numbers and, dare I say, amusing scenes.
Jennifer Tilly is ridiculously over-the-top and almost cartoonish, as are the actresses who play her daughters and, really, everyone else at the VIP event. The only people who seem even remotely realistic are Tessa, Georgie and Reed West, along with the workers at the resort where everything takes place, but that's meant to drive home a point. This definitely isn't grand cinema here, but I did find my lips curling into a smile a few times. I can see this being an appealing show for tweens, since they'd probably enjoy the romance aspect, while not minding the overacting so reminiscent of Disney TV productions.
A Cinderella Story: If the Shoe Fits comes packed with a handful of short and sweet special features, like two music videos, deleted scenes (which actually explain a lot, specifically why Tessa would continue to stay with these creeps), a gag reel, and three featurettes - one on the signature dance in the movie, one on the styles used in the film, and one on the glamorous look of Bella versus Tessa.
Overall, this isn't a great movie, but I am not sorry I watched it. It's cute and fun and I can see younger girls enjoying it. Most importantly, it's positive and challenges people to follow their dreams. If you can catch it on Netflix, and your kids love it, then pick it up.
