Enchanted
This story about an animated fairy tale princess who comes to live in the ârealâ world of New York City borrows heavily from Snow White, with bits and pieces of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Little Mermaid (with Ariel herself, Jodi Benson, getting an hilarious cameo as the secretary of a law firm). The glue that seamlessly holds everything together is the performance of Amy Adams as Giselle. Having no doubt watched the older classics relentlessly, she captures every nuance and mannerism of the clichĂ© character type perfectly, and literally takes home all of the filmâs best moments and biggest laughs, as she struggles to figure out the new world she has come to, while still applying her unique set of âfairy tale valuesâ to real life situations. As one might result, the irony of the storyline, especially in the dialogue, is a major player here, and for the most part comes off well, as thick as it gets, although by the time Susan Sarandonâs evil Queen comes to the real world about Ÿ of the way thru, it does start to fall apart a bit, particularly with the witty one-liners that Sarandon seems to spout non-stop. It doesnât sound like a fairy tale villain, but rather a hipster anarchist who always has something clever to say for the occasion. As for the rest of the cast, Patrick Dempsey as the divorce lawyer who falls for Giselle is fine as far as you can tolerate Dempsey himself. Fans of his McDreamy persona should love his turn here, while those lesser fans would probably prefer that Giselle wind up with Prince Edward. As the Prince, James Marsden admirably plays his ridiculous part with a straight face, and brings the necessary charm to the table to pull it off with some pretty hysterical results. Timothy Spall as the Queenâs untrustworthy minion has some nice moments, though the plot hole of how he quickly manages to fit into New York City life (complete with a series of disguises and ever-changing identities) while Edward continues to prance around in the same old prince outfit leaves one scratching their head a bit. Idina Menzel (a Tony-award winning Broadway singer) isnât allowed to so much belt out a lyric as Dempseyâs fiancĂ©e, though she still brings a bit of charm to the âother womanâ role. However, Rachel Covey, as Dempseyâs precocious daughter, is not quite as appealing as the role may require, even if she shares many little girlâs preconceptions of wanting to be a princess. However, the use of old school Disney animation is a nice change from the CGI fests weâve been inundated with, and in the end itâs really Amy Adamsâ show, with the âHappy Working Songâ (where she summons the animals to help her clean up Dempseyâs apartment and winds up enlisting the aid of pigeons, rats, and even cockroaches to assist) and the Central Park number where people on the street pick up on her mirth and start singing and dancing with her are inspired bits of parody with their own ample amount of heart as well. Overall, this is very ample proof that Adams has the looks and talent to go a long way, and we look forward to what she will star in in the futureâŠ
8/10