Enchanted is an absolute joy. It's the latest Disney princess movie, but it's done with a surprising amount of light self-mockery, especially for a company so image-conscious as Disney.
The animated prologue is set in Andalasia, where the lovely Giselle and Prince Edward are about to marry, which will allow Edward to take the throne and depose his wicked stepmother, Queen Narissa. Narissa can't have that, so she pushes Giselle down a magic well; when Giselle pops out the other end, she's now a live-action character in modern Manhattan. Edward follows, desperate to save his true love, and eventually Narissa shows up to stop him from doing so.
Amy Adams plays Giselle, and she is utterly perfect in the role; her innocence and naivete are believable without ever becoming cloying or syrupy. James Marsden is appropriately charming and bland, in the best Disney prince tradition, as Prince Edward (though Edward is allowed to get more laughs than most Disney princes); and Susan Sarandon is fabulously wicked as the evil Queen Narissa. Patrick Dempsey plays the New York divorce lawyer who becomes Giselle's protector, and he plays Robert as a real-world analogue of the Disney prince archetype -- that is, he's perfectly pleasant, but never so interesting as to draw focus away from Giselle.
There's an obligatory cute animal sidekick -- Giselle's chipmunk, Pip, whose frantic attempts to communicate (seems that he can't speak in the real world) provide some of the movie's funniest moments. There are musical numbers, which Adams sings beautifully; the "Happy Working Song" is a hilarious Snow White/Mary Poppins hybrid, and "That's How You Know" is a spectacular production number which finds every street musician and passerby in Central Park joining in Giselle's song.
The movie is filled with references to previous Disney princesses -- Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Belle, Mulan -- with a Lady and the Tramp reference thrown in for good measure, and several of the smaller female roles are played by women (Jodi Benson, Paige O'Hara, Judy Kuhn) who have served as voices for earlier animated princesses. (One of the most charming allusions is the name of Robert's law firm -- Churchill, Harline, & Smith; those are the names of the songwriters for Snow White.)
I could perhaps have done with a bit less clumsy CGI in the movie's final moments, and Timothy Spall is a bit too hammy as Narissa's henchman, Nathaniel. But those minor reservations fade in the light of Amy Adams' performance, which is entirely deserving of consideration at Oscar time. Of course, since the movie is a light, frothy comedy, it will almost certainly be overlooked. Ah well, Adams will have to take comfort in the fact that she's been given the juiciest Disney star-making role since Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins and played it ideally.
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