ENCHANTED

ENCHANTED
Movie (2007), 107 min
Director: Kevin Lima
Screenplay: Bill Kelly

If you don't enjoy this movie, you probably have these qualities: (1) a hard heart, (2) a cynical attitude, (3) not one single sentimental bone in your body, and (4) a general feeling of negativity toward the fairytale world of Disney's animated films.

I probably qualify for 1, 2, and mostly 3, but on 4 I'm altogether different. The Disney animated form has fascinated me since childhood, and all animation in my mind must stand up to Disney's cels: the rich, detailed backgrounds, the seamless motion sequences, the well-imagined liveliness of bugs drifting downstream in pea-pod boats and a mad queen's regiment of playing cards.



"Enchanted" has all this and much more. The film opens in an animated fairyland called Andalasia, where young, beautiful Giselle pines for a lover's kiss, finds a prince (rather, he finds her), and a wedding is in the offing immediately. Except for one off note: the prince's step-mother Queen Narcissa (almost as perfect a name as Cruella De Vil in "101 Dalmations"), deliciously played by Susan Sarandon. Soon Narcissa has Giselle (Amy Adams) falling through space and time to a street in New York City, where Giselle, dressed in all-white, hoop-skirted crinoline, climbs haltingly out of a man-hole.

Here the movie enters live action and Giselle finds herself in a seemingly heartless place where no one smiles and no one says "welcome." The dialog is crisp and funny as denizens of New York, including the street workers who first encounter Giselle, marvel at her naivete. After her tiara is nabbed by a street bum, and as she is trying to enter a billboard (it shows a castle; mustn't it house royalty?), she encounters Robert (Patrick Dempsey) and his little girl Morgan (Rachel Covey). Somehow Giselle ends up spending the night with Robert and Morgan, and that's where things get complicated, for Robert anyway.

The thing is that the suspension of disbelief, at least for me, was almost instantaneous. The animated intro, where we get lulled into make-believe by singing animals and whimsical bunnies (what else? it's Disney), simply drew me through to New York--the life-opposite in every respect to sleepy, peaceable Andalasia. That's pretty magical film-making.

Robert is a divorce lawyer, used to spending hours with disgruntled, unhappy people, and he is bemused but unconvinced by Giselle's steadfast belief in one true love and happiness ever after. Robert has a girlfriend, Nancy (Idina Menzel), a woman he treats mostly as if she were part of a business deal. He can't see what Giselle is talking about. Patrick Dempsey was so believable as Robert that I couldn't picture a romance developing between Robert and Giselle; or could I? I'll say no more, in case you haven't seen the movie.

This is an upbeat, happy film. I thought the songs were on the lame side compared to some older Disney music, but they were right for the scene. A grand production number toward the middle, set in Central Park, has Giselle dancing and singing with every musician whiling away the day in the park. Applause to the choreographer and producer who put all that human delight together in one number.

"Enchanted" is a couple of years old, but don't miss it. Just two questions for you: Can true love's kiss save everything for Giselle? Will she find her happiness ever after? Surely you already know the answer.