Movie Review: Enchanted (2007)

The movie stars Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Susan Sarandon, Timothy Spall and Idina Menzel.

My oldest daughter apparently read the book this movie was based on and asked if we could watch it for our weekly movie night. So, I ended up getting it through Netflix and we watched it Saturday night.

I saw this movie once before and, for some reason, wasn’t a big fan of it. However, after seeing it again, I think I was just having an off night the first time I watched it because this movie is actually quite charming.

Adams is fantastic as Giselle, the forest maiden who continues to believe in true love and happy endings even as everything is going wrong around her. I loved how she could seem completely clueless at times but, at the same time, managed to be unusually open minded considering her situation. As my wife and I mentioned while watching it, she seemed to adjust to the everyday modern conveniences that you would think would seem so foreign. It was great seeing her keep her optimism even as her overall personality evolved.

What really impressed me about this movie though was how it managed to keep things so upbeat. This includes a very funny scene that turns into a sudden song and dance number and the prince’s (Marsden) various misadventures trying to find his true love while his assistant (Spall) secretly was working for the evil queen (Sarandon) and was looking to kill Giselle.

The love story between Giselle and Dempsey’s character wasn’t that much of a surprise and, ultimately, became a little predictable. However, the fact he did already have a fiancée (Menzel), did make things somewhat interesting, as did the fact he was a divorce attorney (essentially the opposite of everything Giselle believed in).

This is a pretty funny and charming movie that I found I enjoyed much more than I expected to. It’s a film I recommend if you are looking for a movie to watch with your family.

My Grade: B