"Enchanted": Disney + Manhattan = Warm and Tingly. Who knew?

I'm going to be honest here. Normally, Enchanted is not the kind of movie that I would admit to having seen, much less enjoyed (namely, the kind with princesses). But you know what? This movie charmed the bejesus out of me, and I'm not ashamed to say it. Despite the fact that most of what I watch these days involves some combination of death and existential crisis, there was once a time when I wore out my tape of The Little Mermaid and believed in living happily ever after (it probably has something to do with my being such a nutcase about relationships today) and damn it if Enchanted didn't make me miss the little bastard that I used to be.

What's really great about this movie, though, is that it neatly toes the line between fairy-tale and reality, both technically and thematically. A masterful blend of live action, animation, and CGI, Enchanted is very much a Disney movie at the end of the day, which means that it's basically formulaic -- you know from the very beginning how it's going to end, and you feel good about that. At the same time, though, the film is a lot more mature than you would expect, and not in the ostentatious, pop-culture-referencing way that Shrek was "mature," but in a real, down-to-earth, "love isn't always what you first make of it" kind of way. Not to give too much away, but the film actually touches on the very grown-up idea that falling in love with one person sometimes means leaving someone else out in the cold and, while it only skims the surface, it's an impressive leap for a fairy tale.

And if that's not enough, there's the (strangely perverse) appeal of seeing the Disney archetypes that you fell in love with realized in corporeal form. Even if we didn't know it at the time, I don't think there's a warm-blooded male born in the last half-century who didn't look back from the vantage point of puberty and wonder what Ariel looked like under her shells or, if you're into that kind of thing, what the Evil Stepmother looked like under that weird hat/cloak ensemble that she wore. Well, now I have an idea and, even though I feel like a bad person for saying it, I'm just going to put this out there: Amy Adams (who also gives an amazing performance as Gisele, the displaced princess) and Susan Sarandon (who is by far the hottest 60 year old I have ever seen) bring the goods. The weird thing about it is that Enchanted doesn't make a lot of effort to hide their sexuality. In fact, one of the film's most poignant moments involves Gisele discovering Patrick Dempsey's chest-hair as he walks around the apartment in a bath-robe (he plays the divorce lawyer who picks her up off of the streets of New York) and finding herself suddenly attracted to him. Last Tango in Paris it ain't, but it's still virgin territory for Disney.

And that's precisely what I loved about Enchanted. Because even if it playfully knocks around the old Disney conceits a bit, the film ultimately suggests that, despite all the concerns of the real world, we can find true happiness. Corny as it may be, it still made me smile.

For another good review of Enchanted, go here