The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Cyrano De Bergerac meets Cinderella. Over-worked, harried and terrified of being put back in foster care, 17 year old Katie (Lucy Hale) does her stepmother and step-siblings' bidding without complaining. Vocally gifted, Katie feels particularly upset when forced to lay down singing tracks so that her untalented stepsister, Bev Van Ravensway, can hopefully win a recording contract from Kensington Records - who's company President, Guy Morgan, is scouting for new spectacular talent at a talent showcase for the Performing Arts Department at a prestigious private school. A Cinderella Story: Once Upon a Song is basically the 3rd installment out of the 4 A Cinderella Movies and stars Lucy Hale, Missi Pyle, Freddie Stroma and Megan Park, now films like that are easy to be attacked from movie buffs and critics in general but personally i was actually surprised i saw the film with low expectations and mostly i saw it because of Lucy i mean common let's not lie to ourselves she's beautiful and her voice is amazing and without a doubt she's the best part of the film alongside Matt Lintz who plays her young step brother, Manu Narayan as Ravi and Freddie as Luke are also pretty good. Now as far as problems goes? Well i wish that some of the jokes were better and that the film had a bit more singing at parts plus as cheesy as Pyle's performance it might be she is still pretty good for the role besides it's a comedy not a drama. There's a lot of good messages as well about friendship and following your dreams and mostly kids will enjoy it now as far as parents goes? They might find it just "Ok" for the most part but seriously give it a chance you might actually like it who knows right? (8.5/10)

You know what to expect from the start. Good girl (Cinderella), bad girl, bad boy and their mother. Prince charming that everyone is interested to meet and of course both girls want to have him. Problems - nothing is easy in life so there are some obstacles that a main character has to overcome. As usual - evil almost wins when the situation suddenly changes and good takes over and ... and they lived happily ever after. The plot as you can see is standard/obvious with musical add-on which make it watchable. Watchable if you like music, which in this case is good. Can't complain on acting either. The only reason for me to give it 5 stars is music. Easy, nice to watch it late evening in bed. Do not expect too much and you won't be disappointed. One remark: I am almost 40, for kids it might be much better ;) Enjoy!

I've probably given it a slightly generous rating and that's probably thanks to the music, I'm so pleased that there is finally a teen musical movie that has kids in it that can act and sing. Not the whiny voices Disney keeps trying to tell us we like but ones you might even consider buying an album of (without 3 weeks of whining from the pre-teen in your life). Admittedly they probably wouldn't win Idol off their own backs but they can sing, just have a listen to Lucy Hale (Pretty Little Liars) in the opening. The plot and supporting characters can seem a bit flimsy at times but to be honest, who really watches these types of films and expects them to win an Oscar?Definitely worth 88 minutes of your life. Preferably with a tub of Ben & Jerry's and your most comfortable PJs

I taped this on the dvr to watch with my 14-year-old daughter.I thought it looked like a fun Disney movie, but we were both a little disappointed. This could have been so much better. The writing left much to be desired, as well as some of the acting.The good: Lucy Hale, Freddie Stroma the little brother,and the music.The bad: Missi Pyle, as the step-mom was acted out way to cheeky. Narayan as Ravi, the meditation guru, was also pretty ridiculous.To sum it up, cute for the kids and OK for adults, but I just think with more effort, it could have been a lot better...like 'A Cinderella Story' (Hillary Duff) & 'Another Cinderella Story' (Selena Gomez),which were both much better. Feb 2012