Enchanted

This movie is just too funny. When I saw the first previews, I was skeptical. I thought, "Disney's cashing in on another princess." But no. Okay, maybe that, too. But the thing is, this really is a good movie. It's clever, and it's funny, and dang it if I don't still have the tunes running through my head. Plus I'm a sucker for a good fantasy, and this one delivers. Delightfully. In a frothy, musically, Disney-ish kind of way.

It is not, however, very scary. I am reminded of what a scholar I met in Europe this summer said regarding fairy tales. He said, "Danger without death is not a fairy tale." Think about it: All the really good fairy tales have death. So I am sorry to say--since I love Susan Sarandon in just about everything she's done--as the wicket queen, she never acheives anything above mild menace, even when she turns into a dragon. But perhaps this is just the perspective of a 40-year-old. If I was six I might have a different opinion.

Another thing I found mildly dispossessing was how the movie undercuts its own theme. It presents the idea--very cleverly, I thought--that maybe it might be a good idea if the prince and princess go on a real date before rushing into marraige--"you know, go someplace nice, like dinner, or a museum, or a movie, and talk about your interests, your likes and dislikes." But in the end (and I don't think I'm spoiling anything here because, after all, it is a Disney movie) the princess falls for main man Patrick Dempsey after knowing him only a brief period of time. So its counter-theme is, hard as we try to be reasonable creatures, ultimately we humans are ruled by our hearts.