Enchanted: Review By Dodd

It is no secret that the entertainment industry thrives on princess movies. Every time Disney releases a two-dimensional, animated princess movie, the movie profit is out of this world, and the merchandising is even more lucrative. Just imagine the check that Disney receives every time a little girl throws on a Jasmine or Little Mermaid costume every Halloween. Yes, the Mouse House has great reason to give little girls the idea that princesses exist in order to make a buck, but would they ever take a step back and openly lampoon the subgenre that makes them so stinking rich? One would hope so, and I especially hoped so once I saw the trailer for Enchanted. While this is a movie clearly marketed for a family audience, a couple of jabs here and there gave me hope that Walt Disney had dropped its guard to completely mock itself. Perhaps their problem is that they just don't do it enough.

The film opens in a world that may seem familiar if you've grown up on vivid Disney tales. Princess Giselle is an animated, ginger-haired beauty who lives in the forest with her wild animal pals. She spends her afternoons singing cheery songs as the animals assist her in cleaning house. Her jovial yet normal life is changed when the squeaky-clean Prince Edward comes along, falls for her at first sight, and proclaims that they be married the following morning. This is until Prince Edward's domineering stepmother steps in and sends Giselle through a portal to the real world.

Now most trips to the real world would not be so bad. Unfortunately, this one dumps Giselle out of a manhole in the middle of Times Square in NYC. The animated Giselle becomes a real life Giselle played by the remarkable Amy Adams. Equipped with her charm and friendliness, she walks the crowded streets of New York wondering when her Prince Edward will come. What she gets instead is average good Samaritan Robert (Patrick Dempsey) who takes pity on the delusional Giselle and lets her stay in his apartment with his wide eyed young daughter. Of course, he gets more than he bargains for as Giselle suffers from the jet lag of transitioning from fantasy world to real world. Things get even more dramatic when everyone else transports into the real world including Edward (James Marsden) and his evil stepmother (Susan Sarandon).

Enchanted is one of those movies that had me in its initial first impressions, and lost me in its remainder. The first half of this film could very well be one of the funniest films of the year. There is nothing more priceless than seeing a princess story being subverted. When Giselle wants to clean Robert's apartment, she seeks the aid of sewer rats, pigeons, roaches, and flies. She also breaks into spontaneous song which results in possibly one of the greatest choreographed musical acts this decade. Even the animated sequences are a hoot as the characters clearly bring attention to the clichés we may have overlooked in our adolescence.

Unfortunately, Enchanted loses its punch when it decides to ditch Plan A and pick up on a new Plan B. The lampooning of princess movies is abandoned so that it can actually become a princess movie. The second half of this film loses its luster and instead relies on a predictable resolution that includes a completely unnecessary CGI dragon. This has to be where my score for the movie drops. When Enchanted makes fun of itself, I knew I was in for a trip, but I did not expect it to stray away from what was so winning about the film in the first place. I am sure that many would disagree, but it was my hope that Disney would, not only make a few jabs at themselves, but go all the way with it to prove that they are just as bold and sharp as their Pixar sub-division.

Despite my shortcomings, it is still worth mentioning that Amy Adams is the heart and soul of this film. I've been in love with her since her Oscar-nominated role in Junebug, and her portrayal of wide-eyed naivety here is priceless. Her reactions to the dirty and grimy new surrounding of the city usually call for a laugh. Patrick Dempsey is also worth mentioning as the love interest who is supposed to be an average guy, but we all know is still being lusted after by McDreamy fans (Just a note that I do remember Dempsey's heyday in the 1980s when he played nothing but onscreen dweebs. You are not fooling me Dempsey!)

I am not saying that Enchanted should be missed. To be perfectly honest, I was entertained and I do believe kids will love it. It is just my personal opinion that I expected a good thing that never delivered results 100%. I really think that this film could have cut deeper in its spoofery while still leaving kids completely in the dark about innuendoes and references. As a twenty-something adult with a Masters in movies, I am in the middle of the road. However, I do think parents should gather the kids for this one.

Questions? Comments? Just want to talk movies? Drop me a line at dodd@movieweb.com