Enchanted (Widescreen Edition)

I simply adored this movie! The timeless fairy tale of the princess who is deceived by the queen so that she is not allowed to marry her beloved prince and become the new queen. The animation part is superb and was handmade. As everybody knows the princess falls through a kind of precipice and her punishment is to arrive at today's New York and become a real person, of flesh and blood! Lovely, hilarious and touching.

I thought Amy Adams deserved an Oscar nomination for this performance. Then again, I'm biased - though I ended up enjoying "Enchanted" quite a bit, what drove my initial interest was Adams' appearance. [If you want to know why, go rent Junebug.] She's excellent here as a Snow White-like 'Giselle'. It's also a treat to see strong-jawed beauty, Idina Menzel. True Broadway royalty, Ms. Menzel is both the original Maureen in Rent and the original Elphaba in 'Wicked'. If 'Wicked' does make it to the screen and Idina Menzel is not Elphaba, someone needs to go to jail.

Disney does a great job here at getting a two-level movie in the DNA of a Pixar's best work. It appeals to kids on one level, adults on another. We convinced a number of our friends to go after seeing it and realizing how well done it was.

What a hoot! Starring Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, and Susan Sarandon, this modern take on the traditional fairy tale is a fun romp through all of Disney's previous stories.

Giselle (Adams), in her animated world of Andalasia, has the good fortune to meet her handsome Prince Edward (Marsden). The two experience love at first sight. With plans to marry the following day, Giselle heads to the castle in an elaborate wedding gown. Little does she know that jealous Queen Narissa (Sarandon, playing Edward's evil stepmother) and her henchman (Timothy Spall, in a fabulous comic turn) are plotting to prevent the wedding, enabling Narissa to remain queen indefinitely.

As Giselle arrives at the castle, Narissa pushes her down into a "wishing well," sending the beautiful would-be princess to a place where "there ARE no happy ever afters." This place? Modern-day New York City. After wandering aimlessly for a while, Giselle meets world-weary divorce lawyer Robert (Dempsey) and his six-year-old daughter. (Robert himself is a divorcee, though he has plans to propose to his current girldfriend.)

Cheerily awaiting Edward to come rescue her, Giselle calls her animal "friends" to help tidy up Robert's messy apartment. (In New York, that means a rather disgusting cadre of rats, pigeons, and cockroaches show up to dust off his kitchen countertops with their tails. Yuck.) She then proceeds to cut up Robert's drapes to craft inventive outfits for herself. Lastly, she wanders into a discussion between one of Robert's clients and her soon-to-be-ex-husband, causing more trouble for Robert. Robert is, by turns, infuriated and charmed.

Once Prince Edward, back in the mythical land of Andalasia, discovers what has happened to his bride-to-be, he blunders into New York himself to do his princely duty. From then on, the desires of each character lead us to a satisfying (but thoroughly over-the-top) conclusion.

What I find interesting about this movie is that it's a conversation between an optimistic fairy tale and the jaded modern world. Does true love exist? What about love at first sight? When so many traditional fantasies have been debunked, how do we continue to believe in "happily ever after?" Or believe in love at all?

Adams provides a great rendition of Giselle, a fairytale princess come to life. More impressive, though, are the moments in which Giselle realizes that she might not be such a good fit back in Andalasia now that she's had a taste of the "real world." Prince Edward is hilariously written (without malice) as a vapid, vacant, self-absorbed prince. Sarandon gloriously chews the scenery, and Dempsey (as always) provides the best-looking brokenhearted man I've ever had the pleasure of watching on screen.

I personally thought the ending fell apart a bit. It was a little too much, and the statements that Disney was going for were a little too blatant. However, I understand that this is a family movie, and some of those choices were designed to benefit younger viewers. At any rate, I don't think the ending detracted too mightily from the preceding action, which I heartily enjoyed.

I thought this movie was a great send-up of the fairytale tradition, and I applaud Disney for being big enough to wink at its own narrative history. What a fun film!

Version: U.S.A / Region A
MPEG-AVC BD-50
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Running time: 1:47:37
Movie Size: 24,877,160,448 bytes
Disc Size: 45,602,820,932 bytes
Average Video Bit Rate: 21.84 Mbps
Dolby TrueHD 5.1 2933Kbps (48kHz/24-bit)
DD AC3 5.1 640Kbps

Audio Formats
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* English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround (48kHz/24-bit)
* English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (640kbps)
* French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (640kbps)
* Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (640kbps)

Subtitles/Captions
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* English SDH
* French Subtitles
* Spanish Subtitles

Supplements
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# Featurette: "Fantasy Comes to Life" (HD, 18 minutes)
# Deleted Scenes (SD, 8 minutes)
# Bloopers (SD, 2 minutes)
# Music Video (SD)
# A Pop-Up Adventure (HD, 6 minutes)
# Theatrical Trailers (HD)

Exclusive HD Content
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* Interactive Game

Enchanted starring Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey is a cute Disney flick for all ages. James Marsden and Susan Sarandon also star and steal the show. Adams's performance is a bit annoying but her angelic voice and adorable charisma is the perfect recipe to play a sweet, doe-eyed princess. Dempsey is pretty good in this as well, he's more than McDreamy guys! This movie is part animation and live action, I like the songs and ending. Give this charming fairytale a chance, enjoy!