Oscar Cleanup: "Enchanted" Review - Written by TonyD, Hardcore Film Maniac

“Enchanted”
2007
**** out of ****
Director: Kevin Lima
Cast: Amy Adams, James Marsden, Patrick Dempsey


So after my great-grandparents were tragically killed in a car accident, I decided to take myself out for a little bit of fun. And what better way to start off my day when you go to the movies. I really wanted to see “No Country for Old Men” again, but I don’t know about seeing a madman killing people and seeing if that will try and cheer me up. “Enchanted” was really the only movie someone can watch and smile over at the time. While the trailer was horrible, it doesn’t mean that the movie was horrible. Actually, it was pretty damn good.

And fun.

God do I hate using that f-word...

Giselle (Amy Adams) is looking for nothing but love. Prince Edward (James Marsden) is looking for nothing but a big ogre. While chasing the ogre down, it stops at Giselle’s little shack and tries to hurt her, but then (if I remember correctly), he slays the beast. Giselle and Edward fall in love, and decide to marry the next day. There’s one problem with that. Edward’s mom, Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon), is wicked witch who doesn’t want to see her son get married to anyone. So Wedding Day, Narissa throws Giselle into a world far, far away from her world. She ends up coming up a sewer… in Times Square.

Let’s stop there for a moment and let’s begin describing this ten minute prologue. This is a Disney fairy-tale. I’ve been waiting for another one of these for god knows when, and I’m glad that they began it with animation. It’s beautiful looking, just like “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin” (only a little bit more modern, but “Enchanted has a good decade and a few more years on those films). Would I have liked a full-length animated fairy-tale film? Of course, but this ten minute prologue works. While you can’t really make a fairy-tale universe using live-action (unless if you’re Rob Reiner), you can always make the fairy-tale universe with animation and a little bit of CGI. You can’t really make Times Square that much prettier with animation either, so Disney has chosen the red pill over the blue pill thankfully.

But back to the premise. Giselle meets up with David (Patrick Dempsey) and his daughter (Rachel Covey) from his previous wife. There’s a big difference between Giselle and David. Giselle is one of those people who believe in true love and love at first sight. David doesn’t, but he has a reason towards it. He deals with people who go through the same shit every day. Add onto his wife leaving him and he has as much of an excuse than Britney Spears does. David, thinking that Giselle is a bit cuckoo, lets her stay overnight with one exception – leave his child alone (just because he thinks Giselle is off her meds when she tells him that she’s really a princess). Prince Edward falls into the well, hoping that he can save Giselle from the evil world that is called New York City.

As I’m giving you a lot of information here, “Enchanted” is a love hexagon. Prince Edward is in love with Giselle, also loved by David, who thinks he loves Nancy (Idina Menzel). The only thing that is keeping Prince Edward to be married with Giselle is Narissa, who sends Nathaniel to poison Giselle with an apple (sound familiar?). Nathaniel thinks that if he does this, he can gain Narissa’s heart. The plot is not as complex as it sounds as I type this, because even the littlest of kids could understand a film like this. There’s only one villain in this film, whereas in “Spider-Man 3,” there are three intentional villains and Peter Parker who is a villain himself.

When we are with James Marsden and his chipmunk, we are never bored. They hold our attention the entire film. Surprisingly, while the worst parts in the trailer were his character, he may have just been the best part of the film. The chipmunk is a character itself, but without Marsden, the chipmunk wouldn’t be I even a third as interesting as what the final product was. Their partnership was so great that I even think that they beat the partnership between Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in “Hot Fuzz.” Hell, I’ll take it one step farther and say it beats Starsky and Hutch…

Okay maybe not THAT far.

Even though that Amy Adams isn’t the best part of the film, she does add a lot of heart to the film. I don’t exaggerate when I say a lot. While the goofy character that James Marsden is, she is loveable and caring, and we are the same way back. As cynical and raging as I am, I’m really surprised how much I can believe that what her character says about love. Since she lives in one of those fairy-tales, it’s understood why a princess will believe in a true love’s kiss. If you have seen “Junebug,” you already know what Adams is capable of when she’s acting. If you don’t, you can always start here. She gives a great performance nonetheless.

“Enchanted” has some excellent music. My favorite song out of the whole bunch is “That’s How You Know.” It sounds like “Kiss the Girl” from “The Little Mermaid” and reminded me a lot of the musical number in “Clerks 2” for some odd reason. Within weeks of seeing it, I still have it playing it on my Dell Jukebox nonstop. The voices are excellent as well, especially Amy Adams. I guess it was a hidden talent of hers that should have been unleashed into the world before Pamela Anderson’s ass cheeks. “That’s How You Know,” “Happy Working Song,” and “So Close” were all nominated for Best Song in the Academy Awards.

The only fault that I actually had with this movie when I saw it was the performance by the “love-interest” of Dempsey’s character, played by Idina Menzel. She just looks like she doesn’t want to be there and she doesn’t really have much to play around with. She’s only in the movie when it calls for her to be there, and being that she’s only there just to add space, she shouldn’t have been there to begin with. I know many people will shank me (even Menzel herself, because I loved her in “Rent” and I don’t really give a flying fuck what you think about that), but she doesn’t really add much here. Keep playing Amanda Bynes, Menzel, and you won’t get anywhere in Hollywood.

“Enchanted” is a fun way to waste two hours. Over the holiday season, if you are looking for a good movie, stick away from Alvin and his chipmunk buddies and hang around with Prince Edward and his chipmunk buddy. Trust me, you and your money will thank me later.

Oh, and P.U., while you’re watching “Enchanted,” look for ALL of the Disney princess references. Try and spot them all. I dare you.