Echo Times

Issue date: 5/12/04 Section: A&E

Anne Hathaway plays Ella, a peasant girl who has been cursed with the "gift" of obedience.

In the tradition of "Shrek," "The Princess Bride" and "Robin Hood Men in Tights," "Ella Enchanted" pokes comical fun at the age-old fairy tale genre. It is based on the book by Gail Carlson Levine. This story has elements of "Cinderella," with a little Hamletesque intrigue as well.

The plot, delightfully quirky, and fun, refuses to take itself seriously. It's riddled with clichés, but that's the beauty of it. It takes all of the normal stuff found in fairy tales and makes fun of them.

The main character, Ella (played by the charmingly eccentric and beautiful Anne Hathaway, who starred in "The Princess Diaries") is a loveable character who has been given a gift (or rather a curse) by her drunken ditz of a godmother (Vivica A. Fox) who, unlike classical godmothers, causes more problems than she fixes. The gift, given when she was a baby, is of obedience. Ella must do whatever she is told, which causes quite a lot of problems, especially when her stepsister figures it out. Even more problems ensue when Ella falls for Prince Char (short, of course, for Charmont).

An interesting appearance is that of Carey Elwes, best-known for playing comic heros such as Wesley in " The Princess Bride" and Robin Hood in "Robin Hood Men in Tights". His usual take on the male protagonist character has partly (but not completely) morphed into Claudius-like King Edger, a villain with a Disneyish side-kick snake who, like Hamlet, is out to kill his nephew in order gain control over the throne.

Everything about this movie is fun. In the land that Ella lives in there are elves that sing and dance to such songs as "Let Me Entertain You" and disco-dancing giants that look as if they belong on the catwalk. One elf is tired of the kingdom's law that requires his kind to sing and dance; he decides that he will become a lawyer instead.

We also meet a band of party-hopping fairies.

In one scene there is a grand opening of a medieval mall, which is equipped with a medieval escalator. The costumes, like the set, blend ancient and modern elements. The special effects in the movie aren't that great, that's what adds to the goofiness of the movie. You can tell those computer generated landscapes are fake, they almost look animated. But why should they look real? This is a fairy tale, after all.

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