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Enchanted Our rating: Your rating: 1 2 3 4 Your Comments: see all MPAA rating: PG (for some scary images and mild innuendo) Genre: Comedy, Family Theater release: November 21, 2007 by Walt Disney Pictures Directed by: Kevin Lima Runtime: 2 hours 37 minutes Cast: Amy Adams (Giselle), Patrick Dempsey (Robert), James Marsden (Edward), Susan Sarandon (Queen Narissa) Related: Talk About It/Family Corner

The first two-thirds of Disney's Enchanted is sweet, charming, almost-perfect, can't-wipe-the-smile-from-your-face fun. Simply put, it's endearing and, well, enchanting. When I saw the film, the theater was filled with young girls buzzing with giddiness, laughter and wonder. What little girl wouldn't love having a princess—complete with big poofy dress—to sing with and go shopping?

But it's not just for kids. It's funny, inventive and clever. The movie also works on a second level by lovingly evoking Disney's classic canon. Enchanted references everything from Snow White to The Lion King with both gentle satire (like "Happy Working Song" where real-life rats and pigeons help a cartoon princess clean a New York apartment) and sly references (pay attention to little details and character names). If nothing else, it's worth seeing for the wonderfully cartoonish performances of Amy Adams (Junebug) and James Marsden (X-Men) as the real-life versions of a classic Disney princess and her prince charming. They are magnificent.

Amy Adams is stellar as the princess Giselle

Speaking of excellence, the music is by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz (the duo behind Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame). The songs are very good—especially "That's How You Know," a massive song-and-dance set piece in Central Park. It's possibly one of the most fun film sequences in a long time, leaving my screening crowd reeling with laughter and contagious smiles.

Unfortunately, the movie can only maintain its top-flight magic for so long. Near the end, the movie falls into predictability and cliché, and—most concerning for parents—sends mixed messages. But when Enchanted is at its best, it's very, very good.

The fun begins in classic two-dimensional animation with a young girl named Giselle (Adams) in the land of Andalasia who daydreams of a prince who will come and give her "true love's kiss." She sings and dances with her animal friends who represent a Who's Who of Disney cartoon creature history: a chipmunk, blue birds, a baby deer, a gray rabbit, an owl, a warthog and more.

Robert (Patrick Dempsey) and Giselle have a laugh over a pizza

This sweet, idealistic beginning is basically a condensed Disney classic. Giselle falls into danger and is saved by the brave and charming Prince Edward (Marsden). They share a song (about the magic of "True Love's Kiss"), instantly fall in love and ride off to be "married in the morning!" But alas, not all is well. Edward's wicked stepmother (of course) knows that if he marries, she will lose her throne forever. And so, Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon) dupes Giselle into a trap that send her to a place "where there are no happy endings." Where else but New York City?

Luckily, the completely confused Giselle stumbles onto a fairy tale-believing young girl and her single father Robert (Patrick Dempsey). Can they help her find her Prince Edward before it's too late?

The meat of the story is the fish-out-of-water (or Snow-White-in-Manhattan) story of Giselle trying to figure out this strange world—and changing it with her joy, simplicity and love. After all, our actual world is very much different than the classic Disney cartoon. Not only are rats, pigeons, cockroaches and wasps the only animals around to help out during the "Happy Working Song," but nothing happens like it does in Andalasia. Birds get injured, plates are dropped, and a pigeon eats one of the helpful cockroaches. That never happened to Sleeping Beauty.

James Marsden (right) as Edward, confronting Giselle's other suitor, Robert

Giselle also discovers this world has a much different view of love. She's confused by ideas like "dating" and how Robert and his girlfriend Nancy could be in love for years but not yet married. Giselle's outright shocked by the idea of divorce—a discovery that drives her to tears. She says, "Separated forever and ever?" It's a poignant moment that made me think how sad it is that we're not always so easily affected by such travesties.

Robert, for one, is not. Burned by a former love, Robert is a calloused realist in love. He sees love in a practical, business-like fashion. The two are on far opposite ends of the love spectrum. Over and over, he explains to Giselle that love can't happen in a day, is not merely magical, and is a commitment that takes work. Giselle's lovey-dovey version of love, he explains bitterly, is mere fantasy. "Many marriages are happy if they just don't end," he says. "Forget happily ever after."

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