An "Enchanting" Tale

***1/2 out of ****

"Enchanted" is a classic Disney fairytale from the moment Julie Andrews begins narrating with the line "Once upon a time" to the closing "happily ever after."

A sugary-sweet family treat, "Enchanted" begins as a cartoon in the land of Andalasia, where people break out in song, animals do daily chores, and an evil queen rules the land.

The story starts with Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon), who's in fear of losing her royal throne if her stepson, Prince Edward (James Marsden), marries. Edward's "friend," Nathaniel (Timothy Spall) is in on the Queen's plan of thwarting Edward's attempts at love.

While hunting for ogres in the woods, Edward hears a woman singing. The woman is Giselle (Amy Adams), a mash-up of every classic Disney princess. She is so jovial that she can't stop dreaming, smiling or singing to her animal friends. When they meet, it is love at first sight and quickly they are off to marry.

Determined to foil the wedding, Narissa, similar to the queen in "Snow White," transforms herself into an old hag, luring Giselle to a wishing well. But before Giselle has a chance to make a wish, Narissa pushes her down the well, only for Giselle to find herself in a new world. Ours.
Narissa's plan isn't without flaw, though, as Giselle's smart-alecky chipmunk friend, Pip (Jeff Bennett/Kevin Lima) sees it all take place.

Turning now into a live-action film, we see Giselle crawl out of a manhole in New York City.
Frazzled, confused, yet still extremely optimistic, Giselle hustles and bustles her way through the city in her full-flowing princess gown to find her way home with amusing outcomes.

It isn't until she is mugged and wandering through the rain that she meets Robert (Patrick Dempsey), a divorce lawyer who's, ironically, a divorcee himself on the verge of engagement to another woman, Nancy (Idina Menzel). Robert's young daughter Morgan (Rachel Covey) convinces her reluctant father into taking Giselle in for the night.

While Morgan believes Giselle is a real princess, Robert doesn't believe in this fairy tale until he sees his home being cleaned by rats, pigeons and fleas -- the New York version of woodland creatures.

Back in the cartoon world Andalasia, Pip the chipmunk tells Edward and Nathaniel of Giselle's fate, and they too go down the well and through the manhole arriving in New York City.

The dashing but dimwitted Prince Edward wanders around the city to rescue Giselle. This is where the adventures begin with many laugh-out-loud sequences. Nathaniel adds to the comedy while in cahoots with the Queen to thwart the Prince along the way.

Harkening back to classic Disney cartoons, director Kevin Lima ("Tarzan"), keeps a whimisically brisk pace during the 107 minute running time.

Set to Bill Kelly's ("Premonition," "Blast from the Past") clever screenplay, "Enchanted" pokes fun at fairytales, which is a comedic pleasure for both kids and adults. The script loses steam during the finale, opting for a semi-entertaining CGI extravaganza.

Nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in "Junebug," Amy Adams could get her second nomination here, playing the role with bubbly charisma. Adams elevates her role, and the movie, as a few great actresses can.

With a heart-warming message, hilarious songs, and something for everyone, "Enchanted" is nothing short of enchanting.

'The Game Plan' Fumbles

* out of ****

"The Game Plan" is the newest Disney family comedy romp, though there aren't many X's and O's on the chalk board.

The Game Plan is about ace pro-NFL quarterback, Joe Kingman (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson), who plays for the fictional football team, The Boston Rebels. While Kingman is a national sensation, closing huge endorsement deals left and right, he is also an idiotic, self-absorbed playboy and portrays this behavior pretty much through the whole movie.
He never throws to his open receivers and runs the ball himself no matter how much it hurts the team, kind of like Terrell Owens.

While he throws huge parties in his lavish penthouse with his multiple girlfriends, he is also lonely. That is the cue to bring in Peyton Kelly (Madison Pettis), Joe's 8-year-old daughter that he never knew existed. And her arrival happens at the worse time imaginable, of course, because Joe is about to lead his team to the football championship.

While there are certainly many question marks such as: Would a mother really leave her child on a man's doorstep that she hasn't seen since she got divorced from him? Isn't there a better suitor for the job? Is emergency humanitarian work in Africa an excuse to leave her child for a month without a phone number or means of contact?

However, this is Disney so don't expect much to be answered.

The rest of the film focuses on Joe learning that little girls don't like protein shakes or workout regiments but ballet and dolls. Peyton acts equally as dumb as Joe, turning a blender on with the lid off, and putting two bottles of bubble soap into a bath tub. These comedic scenes, though, don't leave the audience laughing.

When Peyton convinces Joe to take her to ballet school, he falls for her ballet teacher, Monique Vasquez (Roselyn Sanchez), where he gets the ballet-is-a-sport-too nuance and she gets a crash lesson in football.

If Disney's game plan for "The Game Plan" was to make it as cute as possible, they scored a TD, but not really anywhere else.

Director Andy Fickman ("She's the Man") provides a certain level of originality, though it seems hackneyed and contrived; trying to please all demographics.

Wrestler-turned-actor Johnson is a decent in dramas ("The Gridiron Gang") and comedies ("Be Cool"). You see him genuinely trying to be funny, but he is so over exaggerated, when he first sees Monique, you think his eyes and heart would actually pop out and start thumping.

Ultra-cute, tinkering on being fake, Madison Pettis, who you might recognize from the Disney Channel, is funny, but starts to annoy halfway through when she's in one too many scenes.

Kyra Sedgwick is wasted as Joe's ice cold agent, Stella Peck, being too cartoonish -- like Cruella De Vil -- to pose a threat.

Meanwhile the best actor could be Spike (Tubbs), Joe's bulldog who gives off some funny sight gags thanks to a tutu and nail polish.

The movie's biggest problem is you probably saw it all before with titles like "Kindergarten Cop," "Father Hood," "Mr. Nanny" and "The Pacifier."

"The Game Plan" is silly, fun and harmless if you are 10 and younger. However, it's not so cringe-worthy you can't sit through it, and you'll probably get a laugh or two. "The Game Plan" is a weak one, but it's not a complete shut-out.