Enchanted is charming for all audiences
By pulling the audience into a story that will have even the most cynical filmgoer believing in happy endings, Enchanted lives up to its title. A tribute to and a parody of past Disney films, this movie offers enjoyment for a wide-ranging audience.
Most of Disney’s recently successful animated films like Ratatouille and Finding Nemo feature beautifully-detailed digital imagery. But while these films were cute and appealing in their own way, theyalso exhibit how far Disney has strayed from its roots of hand-drawn animation that fans loved and embraced as children.
In this new film, Disney does a great job of returning to its roots and expertly combines hand-drawn animation with live-action and CGI. The combination gives the film a unique texture that resembles nothing else in theaters.
The film begins with a slow zoom on a jeweled book, much like the opening action of Disney’s 1959 Sleeping Beauty. The action starts in the animated world of Andalasia as Giselle (Junebug’s Amy Adams) sings to her helpful and anthropomorphic woodland friends about her desire to find the man of her dreams. Enter Prince Edward (X-Men’s James Marsden) who valiantly rescues her from a giant. Upon catching her, Edward and Giselle declare their undying affection and decide to be married the next day.
Edward’s evil step-mother Queen Narissa (Stepmom’s Susan Sarandon) decides she must prevent Edward from marrying in order to retain her throne and promptly sends her to a place where “there are no happy endings:” New York City. Once in the Big Apple, Giselle chances to meet divorce attorney Robert Philip (Grey’s Anatomy’s Patrick Dempsey) and his daughter Morgan (Duane Hopwood’s Rachel Covey) who agree to let her spend the night at their home.
The real success in this movie lies in two things — the script and Adams’ performance. Writer Bill Kelly (Premonition) infuses the script with delightful dialogue that not only moves the action along — as good dialogue should do — but entertains as well. After spending the night, Robert’s fiance, Nancy (Rent’s Idina Menzel), finds Giselle wearing nothing but a towel in Robert’s apartment and promptly storms out. Robert explains Nancy’s anger over her assumption of the previous night’s events and Giselle, horrified, asks, “She thinks we kissed?” After a beat or two, Robert confusedly replies, “Something like that.”
Giselle’s character progression is another fantastic element of the movie that makes it different from traditional animated movies. She transforms in front of the audience from a girl naively in love to a young woman who comes to question her values and the life she has led. In the hands of another actress, Giselle’s naivete could have been nauseatingly annoying and would have made her dynamic development less believable.
The rest of the ensemble is also superbly well cast. Dempsey properly fulfills his McDreamy reputation as a handsome divorcee, though the chemistry between him and Adams is hard to believe at times. Marsden is perfectly cast as Prince Edward, a dashing but sweetly self-confident and simple man, while Sarandon expertly plots trouble at appropriate intervals.
Aesthetically, the movie is gorgeous. The sets and costumes are filled with rich, vibrant colors and textures that reflect the fun and beauty of the fantastic world. Even the dank streets of New York have a certain glimmer and shine to them that are only present in cinematic depiction.
Giselle’s unwavering optimism combined with Robert’s pessimism regarding love and relationships act as a metaphorical reminder of the emotional balance life demands: The world is filled with beauty and ugliness, pain and love. Enchanted leaves its viewers with wonderfully contented and charmed, making it a great a study break or flick to watch with the family.
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