Ella Enchanted | AccessAtlanta

Ella Enchanted

A romantic fantasy set in the world of fairy tales where a girl cursed with obedience sets out on an adventure in an attempt to dispel the hex placed upon her.

FILM FACTS

Starring: Anne Hathaway, Joanna Lumley, Cary Elwes, Minnie Driver, Steve Coogan
Director: Tommy O'Haver
Rating: PG for some crude humor and language
Genre: Comedy, Romance

Official movie site

See showtimes (PG-13) 101 minutes

Grade: C

Verdict: Only semi-enchanting.

By ELEANOR RINGEL GILLESPIE
Cox News Service

How you feel about "Ella Enchanted" depends on how you like your fairy tales. If you're the Cinderella sort, you'll be happier at "The Prince & Me," starring Julia Stiles. But if you're a "Shrek" kind of person, you'll likely enjoy the fractured-fairy-tale tone of "Ella."

Apparently that "Shrek"-clone tone is not what author Gail Carson Levine, who wrote the best-selling book on which the movie is based, had in mind. An uproar of sorts has erupted on the Internet, with fans protesting the smart-alec profaning of their favorite story -- princesses who sound like they're from Beverly Hills; a carriage that resembles a yellow cab; a medieval mall with a Crockery Barn (for Pottery Barn) and a sale on glass slippers.

Much like the malevolent fairy who put Sleeping Beauty under a curse at her christening, a clueless fairy named Lucinda (Vivica A. Fox) bestows on baby Ella the "gift" of obedience. You say it; she does it.

It's more of an annoyance than a problem until Ella's (Anne Hathaway) father (Patrick Bergin) remarries and brings home an evil stepmom (Joanna Lumley) and two spoiled, mean-spirited stepsisters, Hattie and Olive (Lucy Punch, Jennifer Higham). When Hattie says, "Bite me, " and Ella does, she realizes she can exploit Ella at will. And she grows ever more willing now that the handsome and eligible Prince Charmont (Hugh Dancy, cute) is more interested in Ella than her.

So Ella sets off to find Lucinda and get the curse lifted. Along the way, she encounters ogres, elves, giants -- all enslaved by the Prince's no-good uncle (Cary Elwes) who also has his eyes on the crown. (The palace intrigue is entirely made up and has nothing to do with the book.)

"Ella Enchanted" starts out sharp and somewhat lyrical (Ireland provides the striking scenery). But after the first half hour or so, it sinks deeper and deeper into a mediocre self-aware pseudo-hipness. At least "Shrek" had Eddie Murphy.

Luckily, this movie has its own saving grace: its leading lady. Hathaway, the beautiful, doe-eyed, perfect-hair heroine of "The Princess Diaries," isn't just fairy-tale-princess lovely, she's also a terrific comedienne. Some of her comic takes and pratfalls would do Lucy proud. Hathaway is enchanting; her movie is less so.