Anne Hathaway initially can't stand prince Hugh Dancy in "Ella Enchanted."
April 05, 2004
Ella Enchanted
By Kirk Honeycutt
Bottom line: The enchantment is mostly missing but Anne Hathaway is a radiant (Cinder)Ella.
Opens April 9
Nothing un-beguiles a fairy tale more than forced whimsy and labored magic, which is precisely what plagues "Ella Enchanted." The film, designed to add a modern kick to the fairy tale by introducing contemporary references and attitudes along with golden-oldie rock songs, never fully achieves the lighthearted tone it so desperately seeks. The Miramax film, directed by Tommy O'Haver ("Get Over It"), does attain moments of charm largely because of the talented and energetic Anne Hathaway ("The Princess Diaries"). Adding singing and dancing to her movie portfolio, Hathaway is very much the star of this movie, and she is a real delight. But with the audience limited to adolescents and younger children, and mostly girls at that, boxoffice potential here is equally as limited.
Ella plays the title character, who at birth is given a gift -- which is really a curse -- of "perfect obedience" by an out-of-control fairy godmother (Vivica A. Fox). This forces her to obey any and every command no matter how ridiculous or demeaning. When her widowed dad (Patrick Bergin) remarries, this brings to the household a wicked stepmother ("Absolutely Fabulous' " Joanna Lumley) and two nasty stepsisters, Hattie (Lucy Punch), who lives to scheme, and Olive (Jennifer Higham), who mentally is several goblets short of a medieval table setting.
The sisters are smitten by Prince Char (Hugh Dancy), but Ella loathes him because his uncle, Sir Edgar (Cary Elwes), acting as regent until Char takes over for his late father, has segregated the kingdom. Sir Edgar has banished the peaceful ogres to the forest and sentenced the gentle giants to forced labor while restricting elves to jobs as entertainers and clowns. Ella, a civil rights activist, unfurls a banner denouncing these restrictions when the prince appears at the opening of the Frell Galleria mall.
The prince, of course, is captivated by Ella, but the curse gets between the two. Encouraged by her former nursemaid Mandy (Minnie Driver), Ella journeys through the kingdom to search for her partying godmother to demand she rid Ella of the curse. Accompanying her are Slannen (Aidan McArdle), an elf who wants to be a lawyer, and Benny (Jimi Mistry), a talking book that can guide her to her godmother.
Unfortunately, Ella's adventures generally lack inspiration, acting more as plot devices than sequences of enchantment or moments of magic. Revisionist fairly tales such as this probably work better in animation, but nobody is doing fairly tale cartoon these days other than "Shrek." Five writers came up with a few amusing anachronisms, but many more, such as references to the O.J. Simpson trial or Rodney King, are more likely to elicit groans rather than chuckles. The fairy tale land itself is a mix of overly bright colors and a bit of CGI but mostly cheesy effects that seem to take pride in their low-tech grunge.
In the acting department, Hathaway shines as a heroine with spunk and sass. She plays this fluff with such disarming ease that it will be fun to see how she handles sterner stuff. Elwes delivers a daft bit of villainy as the dastardly uncle, clearly relishing the chance to revisit the world of his breakout hit, "The Princess Bride," from the dark side. Dancy and McArdle are both appealing young heroes, but Lumley hasn't been given nearly enough interesting bad things to do. Driver and Fox must have owed somebody a favor to get stuck in such lackluster roles.
The film's soundtrack contains several catchy covers of pop/rock classics that should stimulate sales for the Hollywood Records album.
ELLA ENCHANTED Miramax Pictures A Jane Startz production
Credits: Director: Tommy O'Haver Screenwriters: Laurie Craig, Karen McCullah Lutz, Kirsten Smith, Jennifer Heath, Michele J. Wolff Based on the novel by: Gail Carson Levine Producer: Jane Startz Executive producers: Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Julie Goldstein, Su Armstrong Director of photography: John De Borman Production designer: Norman Garwood Music: Nick Glennie-Smith Co-producer: Susan Miller Lazar Costume designer: Ruth Myers Editor: Masahiro Hirakubo Cast: Ella: Anne Hathaway Char: Hugh Darcy Sir Edgar: Cary Elwes Slannen: Aidan McArdle Dame Olga: Joanna Lumley Hattie: Lucy Punch Olive: Jennifer Higham Mandy: Minnie Driver Narrator: Eric Idle Heston: Steve Coogan Benny: Jimi Mistry Lucinda: Vivica A. Fox Running time -- 100 minutes MPAA rating: PG
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