by Ginger Voight

Created on: March 29, 2008   Last Updated: May 14, 2010

In 2007, Disney affectionately poked fun at its fairy tale past with "Enchanted", a charming fish out of water story that tells the tale of a perpetually cheerful princess who gets yanked from her animated paradise and thrown into smack dab the middle of New York City.

It's a tongue in cheek nod to Disney classics, while remaining a strong story in and of itself.

Which is probably the most surprising thing about the movie.

I went to see this film opening weekend because of the strength of its trailer. It promised to be a funny, and fun, jaunt through Disney history that would not take itself too seriously.

What I didn't expect was to be romanced and charmed by the endearing characters and heartfelt performances.

Amy Adams' Giselle borders on sickeningly sweet when we first meet her, but as the story progresses and we see that she is such a genuinely good character, we cannot help but root for her. Her sunny disposition begins to evolve and mature as she falls for the cynical Robert (better known as McDreamy, Patrick Dempsey), a New York City divorce lawyer whose business is ending love - not indulging whimsy.

When she meets a couple who have lost their happily ever after, she truly is upset and doesn't understand how this could be. In the world she is from, such things just do not happen.

In typical Disney fashion there are defining songs that set the stage for the romantic yarn they spin, but in atypical fashion Robert conveys the voice of the audience - which is way too sophisticated for such things.

With the strength of Amy's performance, as she wins him over, she wins us over as well.

With "That's How You Know", the amazing musical number in New York's Central Park, one cannot help but fall under her spell of enthusiastic optimism.

Turning in his second top notch performance in a musical in 2007 was Jason Marsden, as the unapologetically self involved Prince Edward. Once he realizes what has become of his true love, he races into the strange alternate world to promptly rescue her. With him is Pip, a long suffering chipmunk whose experience in the Big Apple is not quite as joyous as Giselle. He loses his ability to communicate, and because he knows who really represents danger to his friend he must take lumps in order to keep her safe.

Every fairy tale needs a wicked villain, and in Enchanted Susan Sarandon takes a huge bite out of the juicy role as the sadistic Queen Narissa. When her bumbling oaf of a minion, Nathaniel (Timothy Spall) fails to dispose of Giselle and ensure her future as Queen, she enters the real world herself - in true Disney-spectacular fashion.

As the story progresses and Giselle changes from grating to endearing, we begin to root for her to win the heart of the unintentional good Samaritan Robert rather than her dream prince. By the final song "So Close", we are just as vulnerable as she is.

It is a tale that you will love despite yourself, because while it doesn't take itself too seriously, it takes its love story very seriously. It's played with heart and conviction by its actors and the rich history of Disney respected by its filmmakers.

Special bonus: the DVD showcases how several key scenes in the movie were directly taken from classics like Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty among others. Definitely a bonus feature worth the price of the DVD.

A+

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