Director: Kevin Lima (Tarzan)Cast: Amy Adams (Doubt, Talladega Nights), Patrick Dempsey (Grey's Anatomy, Made of Honor), James Marsden (X-Men, 27 Dresses), Timothy Spall (Harry Potter, Sweeney Todd), Rachel Covey, Susan Sarandon (Thelma & Louise, Dead Man Walking), Idina Menzel (Rent)
The Deal: After meeting Prince Edward (Marsden), her true love, Princess Giselle (Adams) is banished by the evil Queen Narissa (Sarandon) from the fairy tale world of Andalasia and into real world New York City through a magical well. There, Giselle meets Robert (Dempsey), a divorce lawyer and single father, who comes to her aid. As he helps her try and find Prince Edward, their ideas about whether true love exists collide. Determined to rescue his princess, Edward and Nathaniel (Spall) venture to NYC, but Nathaniel has special orers from the Queen to ensure the prince doesn't find his princess.
Thoughts: On paper, this seems nothing like my cup of tea. I have nothing against Disney films, but I have never really been one to get excited over them. So to say that I not only enjoyed this film, but actually kind of loved it, is incredibly surprising. I truly hope that whoever pitched the idea of having cartoon fantasy meet real world actuality got a big fat raise, as it was a brilliant idea. The two worlds in many ways are complete opposites. Love at first sight, true love, happily ever after, these are all ideas the real world just doesn't support. So naturally, the collision of ideals plays out rather humorously. One of the most wonderful things about the film is that it doesn't crush any dreams. Fantasy and reality play off of each other, and both sides learn and benefit from the other. The two extremes come together to find a perfect middle ground where fairy tales can exist.
The performances here were exceptional. Never a big fan of Dempsey, I was pleased to find him not only tolerable, but a great fit for his role. He has the right amount of real world Prince Charming in him despite his sad past of failed love. Amy Adams has skyrocketed up my charts after this performance. She was in every way a true Disney princess, and how that unfolds given this film's premise was pure enjoyment. She sang, she danced, she hailed woodland creatures, and she was as innocent and naive as one could possible be. Marsden was a good choice for Edward, prancing around the city, devout in his quest to rescue the fair maiden. He acted the way all Disney princes are supposed to act. Sarandon's role was limited to mostly cartoon, and Spall's was very adequate as her blindly-faithful servant.
One of my favorite parts of the film was that everyday, Giselle would sew a brand new dress for herself. Of course, in true Disney fashion, this is done using bed sheets and curtains. This results in a few very hilarious scenes, since after she cuts out the fabric she needs for the dress, she puts the fabric back where it was. Needless to say, Robert was not to pleased the first time he saw dress shaped cut-outs in the middle of his curtains. The musical bits in the film play out surprisingly well. I was worried they would feel out of place, but a wonderful job was done in at least beginning them in a plausible fashion, though by the end they were extravagant performances. One of the things I noticed that really interested me was Idina Menzel's role. Despite her phenomenal Broadway talents, her character never seemed to have a single musical melody, though I hear she had one but it was cut. It seems a shame to not use here talents in at least one musical number, though Adams and Marsden both did very good jobs with theirs.
Verdict: A wonderful twist on the typical Disney princess fairy tale. The performances were wonderful, and the story was original and entertaining from start to finish. ☆☆☆☆
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