“Enchanted” is Enchanting
Goofy, silly and fun. That’s how I’d have to categorize “Enchanted” which my 30 something daughter, six-year-old grandson and I took in this weekend. My daughter, home from the Big Apple where she lives, particularly enjoyed all the NYC sites and the absolute fantasy of this movie. She commented, as she we were driving to the airport for her return trip, “if only New York was really like that, it would be a kinder, gentler place.” My grandson laughed out loud throughout the entire thing, repeating certain phrases from it the rest of the weekend.
This film blends Disney’s cartoon format with real live action in a clever and universally appealing, musical comedy. Bill Kelly’s script is fantastic. His blending the adsurd sacharin sweetness of classic Disney animation with the “real” world is so well done that it almost becomes believable. After a brief 2D animated opening, the sweet Gizelle (Amy Adams) is pushed by the evil step-mother (Susan Sarandon) into a deep well, only to emerge in real life, through a manhole in the middle of times Square. The innocent Gizelle, dressed in her fairytale wedding dress mistakes a billboard for the Palace Casino as the Prince’s palace and climbs up the rigging in the rain where she is rescued by divorce attorney, Robert (Patrick Dempsey aka McDreamy from Grey’s Anatomy) and his 6-year-old daughter Morgan (Rachel Covey).
Robert reluctantly allows her to spend the night at their apartment. When Gizelle wakes up the following to the disarray of a single Dad’s pad, she summons her animal friends to clean it. An array of CGI rats, pigeons, mice, birds and cockroaches enthusiastically spiff up the place while Gizelle sings merrily along.
Shortly thereafter, Prince Edward arrives through the same manhole in search of his beloved followed by Nathaniel (Timothy Spall) and later, the evil queen (Susan Sarandon).
After successfully interceding in the divorce of Robert’s clients, Gizelle pulls off a stunning musical number in Central Park that brings together an ensemble of musician, dancers and others in a full blown musical production that is straight out of 60s Broadway.
This movie so surpassed my expectations, and those of my cynical daughter. It’s truly family-friendly fare and kitch enough to be cute while being clever. You can argue that it’s predictable, which it is. But, in this case it is the process, not the ending, that’s thoroughly enchanting.
