by Sarah Terzo

Created on: February 07, 2009   Last Updated: June 16, 2010

"Enchanted Vacillates Between Cute and Annoying"

Pros: Interesting concept, good performance by Sarandon

Cons: Main character's wide-eyed naivete becomes annoying at times, Story is predictable

Enchanted, released by Disney in 2007, tells the story of a young princess named Giselle who is teleported from the fantasy land of Andalasia to modern-day New York City. She has fallen victim to an evil queen (played and voiced by Susan Sarandon) who is the step-mother of Giselle's love, the handsome Prince Edward. The evil queen Narsissa has banished Giselle, along with her faithful chipmunk companion, Pip, in order to thwart her stepson's plans for marriage.

Enchanted begins as an animated movie. The opening scenes are set in Andalasia, where Princess Giselle constructs a statue of the man she hopes to meet and fall in love with, assisted by her woodland friends. The scene could have been taken from one of Disney's early movies, such as Snow White or Cinderella. Meanwhile, also in animation, the dashing Prince Edward hunts trolls. When an unruly (but somehow cute) troll tries to catch Giselle, the two young people meet and (predictably) fall in love.

Since I had seen the movie's trailer, I knew that the animated scenes in the beginning would soon give way to live-action scenes set in New York City. Therefore, I knew I needed to grit my teeth and bear the film's awful, sugary-sweet and cliched opening. However, these scenes wore on and on, with horrible animation and breathtakingly awful music, and it took almost all of my willpower to get through them. Because so many people had told me that Enchanted was a charming movie, I persevered.

After running afoul of Queen Narissa and being pushed down a well, Giselle finds herself in New York. She runs around in confusion, wearing a hilariously absurd gown, trying to get her bearings and adjust to a world so unlike the one she had known. Enter divorce attorney Robert Phillip (Patrick Dempsey) and his young daughter, who rescue the hapless princess and bring her home to their apartment. Although Giselle did indeed seem harmless, the situation was a bit unbelievable. I suspect that most men, faced with a homeless stranger doggedly claiming to be a fantasy princess, would be a bit more leery of taking her in and letting her sleep in a room next to their six year old. Especially in New York. So you really had to suspend disbelief.

Giselle's prince, discovering his stepmother's treachery, jumps into the well and comes to New

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