A fairy tale deserving of the accolades people have heaped onto an undeserving film and one that I loved was "Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998)_ starring Drew Barrymore as the title character. Set in Renaissance-era France, in this version, there is no fairy godmother, instead, the film takes a more historical approach with "Danielle" (Cinderella's name in this version) friending Leonardo Da Vinci, having a kind step-sister (and a mean one as well) and raised to be independent by her father, who also passed on his love of books to her. Unlike "August Rush", this film shows real emotions and why they exist. Why Danielle risks her life to save the husband of a family servant from being shipped to the Americas, why she works so hard alongside the other servants (which for all intents and purposes she is considered one by her "family") to keep up the home she grew up in that now belongs to her abusive step-mother and so on. Drew Barrymore is great in the role of Danielle as is Anjelica Huston in the role as her stepmother who, toward the end, when asked by Danielle if she loved her father answered "I never knew him". When told that all she (Danielle) ever wanted was a mother's love and asked why she was never shown even the smallest amount of kindness was answered with " This, not August Rush, is a great fairytale.
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