I was "Enchanted"

Rating: 7/10 (30 December 2007)

Disney's magic is finally back. After so many inane, by the numbers movies by the once great studio, they come up with a wonderful, simple, poignant musical romantic animated comedy spoof, I know, all those genres wrapped into one might sound like a messy stew, but it's anything but, it is altogether wonderful.
When I first saw the campaign for the film I though like many out there "Gee, what will Disney think of next to squeeze bucks out of parents with small kids and girls that go gaga over Princesses?" After a couple of months, I've seen the film 3 times, and was "Enchanted" with it, from start to finish.
Probably the two best elements in the film are the screenplay, which did a wonderfully clever spoof on all the Disney mythology we've grown with since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Kudos to newcomer writer Bill Kelly.
The other fantastic element is the tour De force performance from it's leading lady, Amy Adams. A great actress in the making, sort of reminds me of Diane Keaton, for her corky choice of characters, and the corky choices she makes with her characters. I first came upon her in Spielberg's Catch Me if You Can, she caught my eye as an interesting actress. Years later, with already an Academy Nomination under her belt, she is proving herself to be a great actress. Her comedic timing, her range, her screen presence, and her surprising vocal and dancing skills amazed me, and totally locked the film, she might be the most important cog of the whole production.
The cast was altogether fantastic, Grey's Anatomy Patrick Dempsey was a smart choice, James Marsden was brilliant as Adams counterpart, it's always a pleasure to see Susan Sarandon, and Timothy Spall was a delight, surpassing his apparent character actor persona, established by his collaborations with Tom Cruise. Idina Menzel was slightly underused, being the great Broadway vocal she is, she could have had a musical number, or record a song, but she was great nonetheless.
Speaking of Broadway, they really hit the spot on me with all the Broadway locations, displaying such signs as Hairspray, Chicago, The Color Purple and The Producers. The film does play out as a wonderful Disney Broadway musical. And though the film is not as mesmerizing as Beauty and the Beast(I leave that price to Brad Bird's Ratatouille), Enchanted is wonderful on it's own terms.
Kevin Lima also did some clever directorial choices, like changing film format from Academy Ratio to Widescreen, to classic by the book Jerome Robbins choreography and staging(that comes full force with the showstopper "That's How you Know").
The score is the cherry on top, it's was fantastic to hear, finally, a new score from Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, they were connected with Disney's Golden Era of Late 80s, and 90s, we owe many of the classic Disney scores like Beauty and The Beast, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid to them, it was amazing to have them back, with a killer score, that shows they have not lost their touch for music and lyrics, all of the themes are inspired, and the songs stick with you, Kudos you masters, you guys pulled through yet again, I smell a classic.
Although it's early, I would definitely call Enchanted the surprise of the year, a film that from it's campaign seemed dull, predictable and by the numbers, but showed me and many people wrong.
Disney and Pixar seem to have trouble with their marketing team, Ratatouille had the same problems with it's campaign, let's hope they can learn from this year.
I highly recommend Enchanted, let's hope it will "enchant" you as it did me.