Enchanted

  • Title: Enchanted
  • IMDb: link

Enchanted is every little (big) girl’s dream; the fairytale comes to life in New York, for reals. Princess Giselle (Amy Adams) is thrown down a well by the evil Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon) to keep her from marrying her son and stealing her crown, the well just so happens to end in Manhattan, New York. Here is where the real adventure begins for the princess.

Disney takes all their classics and shoves them into the new classic, Enchanted, from one extreme to the next, singing, working animals, true loves kiss, evil queens and their side kick flunkies, prince charming and a real prince, this film is a fairytale come to life. It’s kind of gross watching real sewer rats clean a house and cook a meal, Yuk!

Princess Giselle is looking for her one true love and just so happens to fall directly into his lap, Prince Edward (James Marsden) is out slaying yet another troll and starts up a song about his true love right before she falls from the sky. Mom, the evil Queen Narissa isn’t the least bit happy about her stepson’s new true love, so she throws her down a well that leads to a world where “happily ever after” doesn’t exist, New York.

Poor Giselle confused and lost roams the streets of New York looking for a friendly face or anything that resembles home. She runs across a billboard for a new casino coming to town and climbs up to knock on the castle door. Twice in one day she falls into true love’s arms, this time Robert (Patrick Dempsey), an emotionally stunted single father, is the match who catches her.

Robert’s young daughter, Morgan (Rachel Covey), talks him into letting Giselle come home and sleep on their couch. The next morning he awakes to singing and rodents cleaning his apartment. Knowing that she must be crazy, he takes Giselle to the office with him and has his assistant hunt down her family or home to send her away, however the assistant can’t find the imaginary enchanted land she comes from and he is left with her.

Thanks to one of Giselle’s woodland friends, the chipmunk Pip, Prince Edward goes after her down the tunnel. The prince arrives with his “all about me” attitude in New York to be followed by the queen’s flunky Nathaniel (Timothy Spall). Nathaniel is sent to make sure Giselle eats a poison apple and keep the prince away from her in the process. Pip tries his best to covert this little trick, but the prince is so self involved he misses one clue after another. As this is going on, Giselle and Robert are falling for each other. Robert introduces her to the real world, dating, hotdogs and true love’s kiss and Giselle shows Robert that love does exist and he should give romance a second chance.

Ending at a ball, Giselle does eat the poison apple and falls into a deep sleep, the evil queen sees to that, but her true love must kiss her before the clock strikes midnight or all is over and Giselle will be dead. Which is it, who is Giselle’s true love, is it Prince Edward or Robert? Well you are just going to have to go check the film out for yourself and find out.

Enchanted is a sweet and enduring film with plenty of laughs, romance and suspense for any little girl or big girl who still likes a fairytale to come true now and again. Of course it has a brilliant happy ending, what Disney classic doesn’t?

I must add that Susan Sarandon plays a wickedly awesome old hag, scary! I also can’t leave out the fact that Patrick Dempsey must have his own fairy tale, the fountain of youth, that man never ages!