Enchanted

At first I was afraid this movie would be horribly lackluster. The entire animated beginning was self-aware and effective at creating the most generic summation and rehash of all the Disney fairy tales combined, and with a perceptible yet not even overtly self-teasing accentuation on the ridiculous patness of it all, but it failed to deliver much, if any, abstract humor and generally failed to be endearing or entertaining at all. Now begins the real-life segment. Enter Giselle, whose real-life counterpart looks nothing like any previous animated Disney star (which I thought was going to bring the whole movie down for me — but in the end, I loved her), meeting with full force the harshness and total oddity of NYC, hence opening for plenty of opportunities for humorous misunderstandings, but none were forthcoming: the only semi-funny thing she did, at least at start, was to mistake a poor, incredulous midget for 'Grumpy'. Then we eventually meet Robert Philip, a kind of guy who takes everything so suavely that if Mary Poppins descended upon him hanging from her umbrella, he may or may not blink, and then would proceed to ask her if she could see 8th Street from where she was because he's late for work and 8th St. is often congested at that time of day. He was pretty much the same guy I complained about previously in Hancock, with only a slightly different face.

But unlike Hancock, it's probably necessary or even vital for this movie to have Robert Philip be represented by such a character, because otherwise either his constant amazement and/or bewilderment, or lack of said bewilderment, would probably detract from that beautiful interplay we see between the Disney-real and the really-real. To my delight, this movie was not all just laughs and a romantic story. Of course one might expect that, in such a movie, inevitably there would be some synthesis between the Disneyesque and the realistic that brings one to a higher integration; but the way this facet was engaged in some of the parts seemed truly brilliant to me. It made me wonder if this could have been done any other way: Amy Adams' acting as a sweet, innocent fairy-tale character might have been flawless, and Patrick Dempsey's character was, though principally unfazeable, not otherwise too out of the ordinary as a human being. In some parts, this really brought it together in a way that could almost defy the imagination. I was really happy to see it.

And while Mr. Philip may ooze moderation from every pore (if and when Mr. Philip should choose to sweat), his reaction to the fantastical display by Queen Narissa, near the ending, was definitely satisfying enough. The unbelievable sort of got more and more real through the course of the movie, but never really crossed that line into "Holy Shit! What The Fuck!?" (for our unwitting muggles) until that event, and that's just the kind of thing I love in a movie.

As for the humor, don't get me wrong: overall it was not without its moments. Which reminds me: I also found remarkable the integrity with which the main Disney-made-real characters, Giselle and Prince Edward, stuck to their ideal characters, even when confronted with the chaos of the unknown and the overbearing power of familiarity, re what passes as mundane and tainted life for you, me, and, no doubt, the writers. But, in fact, it wasn't just this integrity: it was also the playing on those subtle differences between the two realities that only the clever mind would think to capitalize on, as opposed to merely subliminally avoiding.

One thing about the ending: while this Disney movie proffers to present a realistic perspective on all previous Disney fantasies — a reality check of sorts —, the ending was basically as idealistic and Disneyesque as you can get. [Begin Spoiler] The two estranged lovers predictably paired up with each other, the evil queen was spectacularly defeated, and everyone lived happily ever after. Literally — it was written in the sky with stars [End Spoiler]. It sort of makes me want to take back all those nice things I said about synthesis and integration, but oh well. I guess you can't blame Disney for being Disney, in "The End."

The only other thing I have to say is that I'm now left with a mild and puzzling crush on Amy Adams (or at least the character she played..), despite my better judgement, which is to not fall in love with an actor Just because she play an endearing character. ...unless it's been several endearing characters. ...or unless they star in a TV show, hence consistently playing an endearing character across many distinct episodes. But otherwise, bah...stupid movies!!