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 Reel Life with Jane!Get the latest scoop on family-friendly movies at the theatre and on DVD! ENCHANTED
Reel Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Reels Cast: Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Rachel Covey, Timothy Spall, Susan Sarandon, Idina Menzel PLOT SYNOPSIS: The beautiful Giselle (Adams) is happy in her fairytale home in the forest, but even happier when she falls into the arms of handsome Prince Edward (Marsden). They agree to marry the following day, but their animated world gets weird when the prince’s jealous mother, Queen Narissa (Sarandon), throws Giselle down a wishing well straight into real-live New York City, where she meets a cynical lawyer (Dempsey) and his sweet daughter (Covey). Profanity: None. Sex/ Nudity: One modest shower scene where real-life Giselle is wrapped in a towel (by birds, no less). A few kisses, including the powerful “true love’s kiss.” Mild flirting and dating innuendoes. Violence/Gore: Edward darts around NYC with his sword, stabbing a bus, at one point. Companion Pip (a chipmunk) gets into all sorts of scrapes, all played for laughs. The queen tries to kill Giselle with poison apples. When that fails, she morphs into a menacing dragon, putting two characters in dire peril. Which Kids Will Like It? Ages 4 and older who like fairytales and romantic stories. Will Parents Like It? Yes! It’s funny, musical, romantic, and has a fun twist on the guy-rescues-girl tale. Best of all, it’s ok for kids. REVIEW: Not too many movies come along that are sweet, funny, romantic, AND feature a rousing musical number. Well, not many GOOD movies, that is. But after seeing “Enchanted,” you’ll wonder why. This movie has all of those elements, as well as good writing and believable characters -- even if one of them happens to be an innocent maiden looking for her prince charming. But on their wedding day, Edward’s jealous mother, Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon), tosses Giselle down a wishing well, which leads straight through a manhole cover into the manic streets of New York City. Here’s where Giselle and everything around her goes from animated to real-life, complete with hurried New Yorkers who won’t give her the time of day. Robert thinks this oddball girl in the princess gown has clearly escaped from a mental facility, but he can’t leave her alone in the streets. So he and daughter Morgan (Rachel Covey) – he’s a single dad -- take her home. Once there, Giselle proceeds to do princess things, like cutting dresses out of curtains and calling in NYC wildlife (birds, bugs, critters) to tidy up the unkempt apartment. She tells Robert she’s waiting for Prince Edward to come fetch her. Not happenin’, he says. Her prince isn’t coming. Imagine Robert’s shock when the prince indeed shows up at his apartment door. Edward has managed to come through the manhole cover, along with chipmunk Pip and servant Nathaniel, and track the princess through the city. By now, however, Giselle and Robert clearly have feelings for each other. This complicates everything, including Robert’s relationship with Nancy, to whom he’d been planning to propose. Things come to a boil when they all show up at a New York ball, including the Queen herself, whose poison apple plans for Giselle haven’t materialized, forcing her to take more drastic measures. We’ve had a spell of good-but-heavy movies lately, and this is just the one to lighten things up for the holidays. Blending action, fantasy, music, CG effects, hand-drawn animation, and live-action, it’s fun for both kids and adults. A high point is Giselle’s lift-your-spirits musical number where she brings a crowd of New Yorkers together in harmony. Get thee to a theater pronto. JANE’S REEL RATING SYSTEM : One Reel: Pathetic. Even The Force can’t save it. Two Reels: Tolerable. Coulda been a contender. Three Reels: Something to talk about. Four Reels: You want the truth? Great flick! Five Reels: Wow! The stuff dreams are made of. Jane Louise Boursaw is a freelance journalist specializing in the movie and television industries. Visit her online at www.ReelLifeWithJane.com or email jboursaw@charter.net
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by Jane Louise Boursaw
The tale begins in animated form, with sweet Giselle (Amy Adams) surrounded by the forest friends she loves so well in the fairytale land of Andalasia. When she topples into the arms of Prince Edward (James Marsden) -- frolicking through the woods battling large green trolls -- he asks her to marry him the very next day (things move fast in the forest).
When she meets and explains her plight to Robert Philip (Patrick Dempsey), he gives her a sarcastic “Welcome to New York,” to which she replies innocently, “Thank you!” Thus sets the tone of this movie – his world-weary cynicism vs. her wide-eyed optimism. They’re both completely believable, especially Adams, who makes it seem cool to be nice. Sometimes we forget that it IS cool to be nice.