Enchanted

There are a lot of family films that are charming, and some that are smart. Enchanted is that rare film that manages to be both. A big part of the reason the film works so well is its lead actress Amy Adams, a woman who has been appearing in films for almost 10 years, but has never quite got the attention she deserves. I have a feeling that will change when audiences get a glimpse of her here. She's so charming, funny, beautiful, and smart here that her performance and her character are almost impossible to resist. It's a good thing the movie that surrounds this performance is pretty clever and often very funny itself. This is the sort of holiday blockbuster where the care that went into the making of the film is right on display on the screen.

The story begins in the far-off animated fairy tale world of Andalasia, where the lovely Giselle (Amy Adams) sings and dances with the local forest creatures while she waits for her Prince to come. He arrives in the form of the gallant Prince Edward (James Marsden), who immediately falls for the maiden after rescuing her from a troll. Unfortunately, the Prince comes with a wicked stepmother attached - A spiteful woman named Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon) who does not want her stepson to marry, since that would mean she would have to step down from her throne. On Giselle and Edward's wedding day, the Queen disguises herself as an old hag and leads Giselle to a "wishing well", which is actually a portal to another world. The world that she finds herself in is our own, specifically right in the middle of Times Square in New York City. The film switches from animation to live action at this point, as Giselle finds herself completely out of her element. Eventually Edward and Narissa will cross over to our world as well, looking for her for different reasons, and become flesh and blood as well.

As Giselle tries to make her way through this strange land she finds herself in, she has the fortune to encounter a single father named Robert Philip (Patrick Dempsey), and his six-year-old daughter Morgan (Rachel Covey). Morgan is young enough to recognize that Giselle is a Princess like the ones in her storybooks immediately, but Robert initially thinks she's just a crazy woman who has lost her way. This notion becomes harder to believe when he witnesses Giselle's ability to call upon the local animals to tidy up his apartment. (Of course, Giselle is surprised to discover that instead of the cute forest animals she was expecting to heed her musical call, she receives some of New York's regular residents - namely pigeons, rats, flies, and roaches.) The more time he spends with Giselle, he begins to fall for her, which is a problem, since he is already planning to propose to his current girlfriend, Nancy (Idina Menzel from Rent). It also doesn't help that he happens to be a divorce lawyer who doesn't believe in "happily ever after". As the world of Andalasia begins to collide with our world, the stakes will grow higher, and Giselle will have to learn sometimes a woman has to take a stand for herself instead of waiting for her Prince to rescue her.

As directed by Kevin Lima (Disney's animated Tarzan) and written by Bill Kelly (Premonition), Enchanted is not just a loving tribute to the past animated fairy tales of the Disney Studio, but it's also a wonderful, fun, and inventive film all on its own. Thee premise opens itself to a lot of imagination, and for once, the movie actually takes advantage of that fact. Though sometimes predictable, the movie has a constant charm and intelligence to it. This is not a movie that has been severely dumbed down for the sake of children. Yes, there is plenty of slapstick gags and cute CG animal effects to make them laugh, but there is a surprising amount of wit and laughs in the dialogue. It's a nice change of pace compared to recent family films like Bee Movie and Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, which were pleasant and watchable, but didn't really offer any big laughs. The movie's fish out of water element, with the overly kind and whimsical Giselle encountering some of New York's less savory individuals, is often quite clever. Giselle never once comes across as an idiot, she is simply someone completely out of her element, and is struggling to adapt. She does eventually learn her way around our world, and this fact makes her all the more endearing to us. She has a brain, she has a heart, and we want to see her succeed.

What impressed me the most about the film is the way it pokes fun at fairy tale conventions. The filmmakers do not go for the "hip" and "cool" approach, like the highly overrated Shrek series, the crummy Hoodwinked, and the awful Happily N'Ever After followed. This is a movie that knows the cliches and conventions, and has fun with them, rather than ridiculing them. The opening 15 minutes of the film, set in the animated world of Andalasia, look like they could have come right out of one of the Disney classics. Even the film's musical numbers, written by Broadway veterans Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz (who both have written songs for past Disney films like Beauty and the Beast and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, respectively), are catchy and clever in their melody and lyrics. It understands what made these films endear for so long, and doesn't feel the need to mock them. Once again, the movie finds clever ways to mock its source material. In the animated world, Giselle has a talking chipmunk friend named Pip, who crosses over to our world with Prince Edward to look for her. When Pip enters New York, he discovers he can no longer talk, as he finds himself limited to squeaks and chirps like a chipmunk in our world. His attempts to make the other characters understand what he is trying to say bring some of the biggest laughs in the film.

There is also a surprising amount of heart and charm in Enchanted as well. The shy love that slowly builds between Robert and Giselle is sweet and winning, with a touching bit of sadness as well, since they know in their hearts they can never truly be together in their current state. As stated before, Amy Adams pretty much makes Enchanted. Her performance starts out almost as a self-parody of the Disney Princess archetype. Her gentle, almost naive, grace perfectly fits the character. She becomes even better when her character starts to become more "human" in nature, and figures out for herself how to survive. This is a tricky performance, as she must be a living cartoon character and a sympathetic and strong woman at the same time. Adams pulls this off flawlessly, giving what I consider to be one of the stand out performances of the year. As Robert, Patrick Dempsey is mainly stuck with the straight man role, but he nonetheless never comes across as being dull or under developed. He genuinely cares for Giselle the more time they spend together, so he never comes across as the bland love interest who falls in love with the lead character because the script requires them to. They get to share some nice moments together, the highlight being a dance that they share, which is just as romantic as any moment in an adult-targeted love story.

In the area of supporting performances, James Marsden plays his Prince Edward very broadly, but it is appropriate in his case. What impressed me is that the screenplay does not make his character into a total buffoon or vainly egotistical, like Princes are usually depicted in recent fairy tale comedies. Like Giselle, he is out of his element, and just has a harder time adapting than she does. Susan Sarandon seems to be having the time of her life chewing up the scenery as the evil Queen, and delivers all of her scenes with the right amount of gusto without going over the top. Credit also has to be given to Idina Menzel, who plays Robert's current girlfriend, and finds herself in a difficult position as she slowly realizes that his attention is not with her. The way the movie handles her character and story arc is heartfelt and genuine. She's not a bad person, and she does love Robert. It's a tricky situation, but the screenplay handles it well, and at least manages to give her a happy ending of her own.
So many films have great ideas, but fail to exploit them to the fullest. The makers of Enchanted seem to have realized they found gold with their idea, and made the most of it. Almost nothing has been overlooked here. I say almost, because I would have liked a little bit more of Giselle and the other characters from the animated world discovering New York. These scenes are mostly reserved for the early moments before the plot on our world kicks in. The movie does miss a few possibilities for satire here and there, but makes up for it with a lot of other bright ideas that I didn't see coming. There is enough charm, laughs, and invention on display here to leave just about any viewer satisfied. With so few family films truly offering something for everyone, Enchanted stands out because it actually does.

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