Wells to Burma Shave: That's right -- it isn't. Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman understand how to do this kind of thing better than Lima and Sonnenfeld.

Did the filmmakers not know that Andalusia is a real place?

No one is saying it is or should be though. Apples and oranges. BEING JOHN MALKOVICH is one of the greatest films of all time. ENCHANTED is a movie for families and teen girls. It's like saying the remake of FREAKY FRIDAY isn't as good as SECONDS.

We won't know until Where the Wild Things Are comes out if Jonze is better at 'this kind of thing'.

jeffmcm, that was distracting.

What?

Yes, that's what I was thinking all through it, that it wasn't Being John Malkovich. I was also thinking that it was no Rules of the Game, Ikiru, Our Hitler, Satantango, Window Water Baby Moving, or Out One: Spectre...

That said, although I completely disagree that it belongs to a "this sort of thing" with BJM, I will say that I'd have loved to see someone polish the script and make the real-world parts less butt-obvious in their message, made a real character (or a more cartoonish character) out of the other gal so her falling for Prince Edward was the least bit credible, etc. Still, a bright and fun movie that will surely rank among the best "commercial" movies of the year, and that's not all bad.

And if she happens to see a large landscape painting in a castle, wouldn't she have the ability to differentiate the painting from real-life hills and forests?

No, because SHE was a painting until an hour ago!

Burma is saying that it was distracting that her land had almost the name of a real place (it was actually Andalasia in the movie). I agree, that is more distracting than if it were a completely made up name (Spinfoobia).

Spoiler alert for those who haven't seen it: The ending is a take-off on the finale of SLEEPING BEAUTY, in which the villainess turns herself into a dragon: Apparently many people haven't looked at SLEEPING BEAUTY lately since that's the most common criticism I hear. Frankly, whatever its flaws, ENCHANTED left me in a great mood both times I saw it, something I cannot say for most of the films I've seen in the past three months. It's a wonderful piece of escapist entertainment and I couldn't care less if it was not as good as this or that. Just about everyone I've talked to says he or she is planning on seeing it and my response is "Go! You'll have a great time." Geez, 43 years ago we probably would have been hearing "MARY POPPINS is impossible to buy because everyone knows an umbrella couldn't possibly carry a grown woman through the skies of London, it's dangerous to dance on tiled rooftops and there's no way anyone could step inside the chalk drawings on the sidewalk. What a load of Disney hogwash."

mcm, I meant it was a bit distracting having a fantasy world with the name of a real place. I kept thinking of the Pixies and Dali.

One of my favorite quotes: "What we do isn't serious. That doesn't mean we shouldn't take it seriously." I forget who said it. An actor, I think. But it's a good lesson for anyone in the entertainment biz.

I really thought this movie was cheezy and lame - I do not get why anyone likes it. One or two laughs, a great performance by Amy Adams, otherwise, nothing special for me personally...and the ending, yeesh...

Funny, I didn't have any interest in this film until reading this. It sounds like just the film for a holiday weekend.

Enchanted is a fun and borderline fantastic film that will hit 200 million domestic easily but it has two big problems. The problems don't hurt the film one a severe level but they keep it from being a best picture candidate or something that could be considered a classic in years to come.

1) The finale. In Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin, Little Mermaid, and even Lion King the villain became dark and menacing in the third act. There was a genuine sense of peril and something almost disturbing about the heavy when the shit hit the fan. The dragon in this film was almost lovable and felt like there were a lot of "tone it down" notes. I get these all the time. I dug the way they reversed the damsel in distress cliche but Sarandon wasn't playing a cartoon villain come to life (in the same way Spall, Adams, and Marsden were playing cartoon characters in flesh and blood). She was just playing an over-the-top villain. It was one of those acting choices where she felt that she didn't have to hit any authentic notes, in the world the film created, because it was "just a kids film."

2) Patrick Dempsey. He's a TV star.

It speaks to the heart.

Music, indeed.

Rothchild, I can't believe I'm saying this, but Patrick Dempsey is actually a fantastic actor, and has really had a revilization on TV with brilliant roles on ONCE AND AGAIN and THE PRACTICE. If anyone on TV deserves to become a film star again(spare us, Zach Braff, it's him.

The fact that Jeffrey likes anything about this movie at all means it is an astonishing success. $200 million is probably the floor here.

"Welcome, I suppose, to the era of Disney production chief Oren Aviv."

Yet you admit to liking Enchanted, so I don't understand this comment.

BurmaShave - Patrick Dempsey was on neither of those TV shows. he is the cheesy dork from Loverboy and Cant Buy Me Love that took 10-15 years off before getting lucky on the equally cheesy Greys Anatomy.

Jeff, you were expecting too much of this film. Your criticisms aren't so much pointing out proper flaws as nitpicking.

No mention of the amazingly well-done animated sequences? Or the deconstructionist nature of the film?

It's not genius, but there is something to be said for a movie that goes so far out of its way to be smart, well-made, well-written and crowd-pleasing all at once. No this isn't No Country for Old Men but it's probably the absolute best anyone could expect from a project like this. Complaining about it seems like a waste of time.

It seems to me like audiences are desperate for something, ANYTHING, that isn't depressing artsy fare or a war movie so they'll glom onto this. I'm an easy sell. I have a kid. I see a LOT of kids movies but this one was just okay. At first I thought I was watching a movie that was meant for the Bollywood market and then I thought, maybe for the AFM? And then it got good reviews and then good box office - and I still feel like it's all a turkey-induced surreal dream.

Only one critic bespoke my disdain for it -- I mean, it was okay and again, funny and sweet and all but it's no Beauty and the Beast, certainly no Ratatouille and absolutely no Roger Rabbit. And Patrick Dempsey sleep-walked through it - McDull - I liked Amy Adams and the prince and the kid, okay, and the chipmunk. But it was a hostess twinkie to me. If it is nominated for Best Picture I'm quitting the business.

jeeze, zim...one sec it's 'disdain', the next it's 'o.k., funny and sweet'.....and, if it gets nominated, what business are you quitting?...just wondering...

I like when Wells lays down his rules of animation logic; I wish people would wisen up to them. The top photo is a photoshopped publicity still, no? Because her eyes are so wide open, they're like, pornographic, especially with her mouth open, too.

P.S. From what I gather, it's hard to be more sexist than the movie, but I haven't seen it.

zimmergirl is my new hero. I would say you took my words out of my mouth but I cannot write as well as you! McDull... jesus christ ... yes.

scooter, if you're here for social networking, you should get a face book account, instead.

Good to see you back gigobu.

berkguru, you might want to check your IMDB, Dempsey guested on both the shows I mentioned. I know exactly who he is. He's redeemed himself from his early work.

Amy Adams may be one of those actresses I may watch any movie in which she appears. She brightens my day.

seems like wells is reacting to all the enthusiastic reviews (McCarthy, et. al) which leads him to pick this apart. The movie is fine and, with two kids, better than most of the dreck out there for my 6 and 9 year olds. I, too, was disappointed with the CGI ending, but as others have pointed out, it makes sense in the realm of other Disney features. And I'm glad Sarandon was held in check--a litlle of her went a long way here. Overall, it's good, not great, but more than passable for the family, and that should be enough for hitsville and, dare I say, a sequel?

P.S. From what I gather, it's hard to be more sexist than the movie, but I haven't seen it.

Don't let that stop you from commenting, though!

You are, of course, mostly mistaking it for what it gently mocks (but doesn't entirely reject by any means, either).

"Spoiler alert for those who haven't seen it: The ending is a take-off on the finale of SLEEPING BEAUTY, in which the villainess turns herself into a dragon: Apparently many people haven't looked at SLEEPING BEAUTY lately ..."

I saw Sleeping Beauty as a very young kid when it was first released in 1959. But my clearest memory was seeing later as an adult. I was thunderstruck at the way the evil queen turned into a dragon. She exploded into an enormous mushroom cloud, and the dragon rose out of the top of the cloud. Even in my twenties it frightened me out of my wits. Those Disney animators must have been inspired by Godzilla.

Man, seeing this during the height of the Cold War, just three years before the Cuban missile crisis, must have given a lot of parents a heart attack. Here they thought they were taking their kids to see a sweet little kids cartoon, and in the finale they're treated to the spectacle of a nuclear conflagration.

"I understand that Enchanted is not supposed to be The Battle of Algiers."

Oh, how happy I would be if it was. I would TOTALLY pay to see *that* movie.

I smell a mashup!

So it was sweet and funny, and you liked Amy Adams, and the prince, and the kid, and the chipmunk, but you have disdain for it? Hmm...sounds like there are far more things to like about it than there are for most movies this big.

I don't know anyone who felt better coming out of "Being JM," while it seems like a lot of folks felt happier, springier when they left the theatre after watching "Enchanted."

I know, it makes me a boob.

But as far as Giselle. The previous poster who commented that she was a cartoon character suddenly in a physical world might be on to something. Note that when she landed on Dempsey after slipping from the billboard, they both said "Ow." (Okay, neither of them ended up in a wheelchair, but it was fantasy after all. I mean, Uma Thurman with a sword against a 100 Yazuka?). Adams conveyed a lot of honest surprise at the pain in the moment, and kept going with the cartoon person adapting to the real world: note the singing about "even though you're vermin" when they were cleaning the bathroom.

It was a kid's movie that had enough in there to make adults laugh. That takes some skill.

Who here knew that Dempsey and Dermot Mulroney are two different guys?