Kevin Lima’s Enchanted is Disney’s first real postmodern kids’ film since Who Framed Roger Rabbit. And although it doesn’t fully take advantage of its unique idea, it’s still a hugely entertaining, clever comic fairy tale. Most of the credit goes to Oscar nominee Adams (Junebug), who plays Giselle, an animated Disney girl hoping to marry a prince. The film begins as a cartoon, and these scenes do not skimp or fall into parody; they’re as beautiful as anything Disney has done.
The cartoon Prince Edward (Marsden) rescues Giselle, and they fall in love. But Edward’s stepmother, a bitter, evil queen (Sarandon), throws Giselle down a well that leads to live-action, modern New York City. Raised in a world of happy endings and helpful talking animals, Giselle can’t reconcile what she sees. But divorce lawyer and single dad Robert (Dempsey) finds her and reluctantly lets her stay on his couch. His girlfriend, Nancy (Menzel)—to whom he’s about to propose—doesn’t approve. Things get more complicated when the prince also arrives in New York, accompanied by a squirrel, and quickly followed by the queen’s lackey, Nathaniel (Timothy Spall). Nathaniel seems New York-savvy right from the start, slipping into disguises, complete with international accents.
Adams plays it just right, walking a fine line between parody and honesty. Her Disney girl is sweetly naïve and appealing. She discovers new things with wide-eyed joy, and she actually stretches and squashes her face and body like her animated counterpart (her singing and dancing are likewise flawless). Yet, when it comes time for her to fall in love with Robert, she accomplishes this, too, and it’s a moment as romantic and human as anything this year. It’s another Oscar-worthy performance.
Despite all this, Lima and screenwriter Bill Kelly can’t avoid the typical three-act movie structure, throwing in a big, useless special-effects finale. Perhaps the movie could have used some non-Disney perspective. But there are at least three great scenes, the funniest of which is a cleaning-up song (rhyming “hum” with “scum”) accomplished with the aid of New York’s finest: pigeons, rats and bugs.
Enchanted
***1/2
Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Idina Menzel, Susan Sarandon
Directed by Kevin Lima
Rated PG
Now playing