Ella Enchanted (2004)
A highly embellished take on the Cinderella story, Ella
Enchanted concerns a young woman named Ella (Anne Hathaway),
who is cursed at birth by the evil fairy Lucinda (Vivica A. Fox),
with the "gift" of obedience. Thereafter, Ella is forced
to obey whatever command she is given, no matter by whom. After
her mother's death, Ella's father marries a vain old hag (Joanna
Lumley), who moves into the cottage with her equally abrasive
teenage daughters. One of the daughters soon learns of Ella's
curse and starts using it to her advantage. With life at home
now untenable, Ella flees to search for Lucinda, so that she
may be freed and have once more a will of her own.
The story is a good one, and the film boasts winning performances
from Anne Hathaway, who proves a highly charismatic lead, as
well as Joanna Lumley, who once more exhibits her gift for despicable
but highly entertaining characters. Cary Elwes is also fabulous
as the wicked king, while Minnie Driver is good in a small role
as Ella's fairy godmother (although why Driver speaks with an
American accent when all the other British castmembers speak
in their native accents is puzzling). Vivica A. Fox, however,
mars the film in an asinine performance that undermines an otherwise
fine cast. (Happily, she is not in much of the film.)
This is a beautifully shot film, which gorgeously captures the
radiant green countryside of Ireland's County Wicklow. (In fact,
fans of Excalibur will recognize several of the film's
locations.) Otherwise, the execution of this film is misguided.
Most of its attempts at humor fall flat and the film is riddled
with stillborn jokes. Taking an ill-advised cue from Shrek
and A Knight's Tale, Ella Enchanted is rife with tacky,
anachronistic pop-culture references. In Shrek, this almost
worked, but Ella Enchanted is more of an old-fashioned
storybook romance, and all the modern references merely come
off as a contrived sell-out.
For instance, Ella and other characters actually sing and dance
to songs from the 1960s and '70s. One would think that if the
director wanted singing, he should have simply made a musical
using original songs. But shoe-horning it full of dated oldies
which have no connection to the genre utterly ruins the film.
Besides, this a children's film, so why pump it full of songs
which most children have never heard and cannot relate to?
Although a largely superlative cast give their all, their sincere
performances are derailed by director Tommy O'Haver's complete
lack of taste. Ella Enchanted is yet another potentially
good film which is derailed by a filmmaker's attempt to be cute
and trendy.
Paul Andrew MacLean
© 2004
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LadyJanet@RenaissanceMagazine.com