Enchanted

  • 2007-12-05

FAIRYTALE ROMANCE? The hard part about dating a storybook princess is living up to her expectations.

Director: Kevin Lima

It would be harder to see a more manipulative movie than Disney's "Enchanted." It's hard to say who it's aimed more at 's kids or adults 's or perhaps it was made on the assumption that the difference is so negligible these days that it doesn't really matter.

The story starts out in an animated fairytale land where Giselle (Amy Adams) spends her entire time waiting to find her true love. Giselle is a real fairy tale sort of gal, who only has to warble out of her window for all the animals of the forest to come flocking to her side. One day the handsome Prince Edward hears her singing while out troll-hunting and immediately declares that she is his true love. They arrange to marry the next day to the horror of the prince's evil stepmother, Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon), who doesn't have the slightest intention of giving up her throne.

On the morning of the wedding, Narissa lures Giselle over to a well and shoves her into it, from whence she emerges dazed and confused in Times Square, New York. Yes, Giselle suddenly finds that she now exists in the flesh, cinematographically speaking.
There she meets cynical divorce lawyer Robert (Patrick Dempsey), who single-handedly takes care of his young daughter after his ex-wife deserted them and who resolutely refuses to believe in love.
Naturally, Robert soon succumbs to Giselle's charms but things are complicated when Prince Edward comes to New York to find his true love, along with another man sent by the queen to finish off Giselle by giving her a poison apple to eat.

Writing this, I can't quite believe how idiotic the story sounds when I put it into words. But that's the story 's and I haven't even mentioned Pip yet, the CGI chipmunk who is friend and protector to Giselle.
"Enchanted" is certainly a very enjoyable movie which children will doubtlessly adore. And it does have some inspired comic scenes, such as when Giselle summons an army of cockroaches, rats and one-legged pigeons to clean up Robert's flat.
Amy Adams is by far the best thing in it (along with the chipmunk), and her charming performance is endearingly animated in every respect. But there is something disagreeably cynical about the movie as a whole. "Enchanted" is way beyond mere fairy tale. It's positively other-worldly in its desperate pursuit of a happy ending.

Now showing in Estonia and Lithuania. Opens in Latvia Dec. 7

 

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