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 Soulful and sweet: Amy Adams plays a fairytale princess named Giselle who winds up in battle between good and evil in modern-day, cynical New York in the romantic comedy Enchanted. (Supplied photo) |
Amy Adams has a wide-eyed, illuminating face that couldn't be more expressive if it were animated.
Blazing with soulfulness and sweetness, her face projects her emotions as candidly as thought balloons in a comic strip. It's probably a stretch to think Adams might merit Academy Award consideration -- as has been suggested in some circles -- for playing a cartoon princess in Disney's Enchanted.
But that doesn't make her performance in Enchanted any less endearing or enduring. And it should all but solidify her status as one of Hollywood's most appealing actors, following her cynicism-free, Oscar-nominated turn in Junebug.
The creative conceit of Enchanted, in which Adams stars as a cute, cheerful fairy-tale heroine named Giselle, is that it combines live-action with traditional, 2-D hand-drawn animation.
Thus the opening 10 minutes, with Giselle bursting into song, talking to forest animals and falling for a dashing prince (James Marsden), unfold like outtakes from a film made in Walt's 1950s heyday.
It doesn't take long, though, for the jealous Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon) to banish Giselle to a world where there are no "happily ever afters" -- in other words, present-day New York City.
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Here, Giselle -- now in live-action mode -- emerges through a manhole cover, confused, confounded and eventually rescued by Patrick Dempsey (McDreamy of Grey's Anatomy fame). He's a single father, divorce attorney and -- can you smell a character arc coming? -- world-weary cynic.
Matters are further complicated when Marsden's Edward, more vapid than valiant in a real-world context, follows Giselle through the portal -- as does Narissa's treacherous henchmen and, for comic relief, Giselle's motor-mouthed chipmunk BFF (best friend forever) Pip, who finds himself infuriatingly mute.
What follows is an obvious, if fun, fish-out-water comedy that merges the romance of Splash with the gentle satirical bent of Shrek.
Apparently, those who run Disney figured if Shrek earned billions at the box office mocking their library of cinematic classics, why shouldn't they? They even enlist Oscar-winner Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast) to contribute songs -- the two stand-outs being the lovelorn That's How You Know and Happy Working Song, a crowd-pleaser if only for the sight of the rats, pigeons and cockroaches Giselle assigns to clean up Dempsey's apartment.
It's novel, it's amusing and it can't help but peter out in the third act as the screenplay trucks toward a Big Apple showdown between good and evil. By this time, Enchanted is merely coasting on Adams' considerable charm. It's enough.
Cinema's most beloved princesses
Whether Amy Adams' character in Enchanted becomes one of cinema's most beloved princesses is yet to be seen. If she does, she would join the likes of:
PRINCESS LEIA: A cinnamon-bun-hairdo-wearing trash talker, she learned all about the dark side of too much royal in-breeding when she unwittingly made out with her brother.
PRETTY WOMAN: Sure, Julia Roberts starts off turning tricks, but by the end she's been anointed Beverly Hills royalty, complete with glittering jewels and her own Prince Charming. Too bad about the track marks and STDs though.
AUDREY HEPBURN IN ROMAN HOLIDAY: A few years ago, Tea Leoni almost starred in a movie entitled Why Can't I Be Audrey Hepburn? Lots of reasons, actually, which explains why the very wise Leoni dodged this career bullet.
PRINCESS GRACE: Or Grace Kelly, as she was known before she transcended Hollywood royalty -- as one of Hitchcock's favourite blonds -- and opted for the real thing.
THE PRINCESS BRIDE: Robin Wright Penn (or simply Robin Wright, as she was known then) starred as Buttercup in Rob Reiner's witty send-up of fairy tales, based on William Goldman's novel.