Enchanted

Amy Adams is really quite entertaining in this latter day take on the "Snow White" fable. Falling pray to the envious Queen "Narissa" (a few fleeting appearances from Susan Sarandon) who wants her power, as well as her beauty, "Giselle" finds herself crawling out of a manhole cover and arriving in modern day New York City. Dressed as for a children's fairy tale party, she quickly finds herself a new friend in the form of "Robert" (Patrick Dempsey) and his young daughter "Morgan" (Rachel Covey). Initially he thinks she is not quite the full shilling, but the arrival of her pursuing beau Prince "Edward" (James Marsden) and his wily butler "Nathaniel" (Timothy Spall) soon sets him straight - and makes him realise that he - egged on by his daughter - is falling for this young woman. Who will win her heart? Can they get back to their home land of "Adalasia"? I could have been doing with a little more animation mixed into this, but as it is, it is a quickly paced and enjoyable family drama with a decent degree of chemistry between Adams and the admittedly rather wooden, but easy on the eye, Dempsey. Marsden is probably the star for me, he manages to carry the character of chivalrous dope quite amusingly at times, and Spall always did manage these ever so humble, slightly obsequious, parts well too. Idina Menzel is here, yes, but no real chance for her to belt out any power ballads - indeed, the triple Oscar-nominated soundtrack is not one of Alan Menken's more memorable, I thought. Maybe a little too long, but it's still quite a creative interpretation of the original story, and is an easy to watch feel-good film.