Blockbuster.co.uk - DVD - Rent 'Ella Enchanted'

"These last few days have been so perfect. Except for the bit where we almost got eaten by ogres..."

An all-star fairy tale with a cute contemporary edge, Ella Enchanted is a winningly silly adventure aimed directly at ‘tweenage' girls, a target it hits with alarming accuracy. The story of a sweet young lass struggling under the weight of an awkward curse, this charming rites-of-passage fantasy is packed to overflowing with mythic creatures, magic spells and of course, true love.

Fresh from her role as Princess Mia in a pair of perfect wish-fulfillment comedies, The Princess Diaries and its sequel, rising star Anne Hathaway completes her royal hat-trick as Ella, not quite a princess yet, but fancied by local heir to the throne Prince Charmont (Hugh Dancy), which is a good start. Certainly a better start than Ella got in life, when her mischievous fairy godmother (Vivica A. Fox) bestowed upon her the so-called gift of obedience, which was really much more of a curse. Now Ella has to do whatever anyone asks of her, no matter how foolish, criminal, impossible or upsetting. Obviously there's a lot of fun to be had with this device, and director Tommy O'Haver exploits every opportunity with real relish.

"I knew that people would kind of raise their eyebrows if I took on yet another fairy tale," said Hathaway recently. "But this one is different from Princess Diaries in that while that kind of embraced the fact that it was a fairy tale, Ella makes fun of itself because of it. In terms of the princess role, there's only so long you can play those as a young lady before you start feeling ridiculous. But they're so much fun to do that I might as well get the most out of them while I can and then go off and play all the drug addicts and prostitutes you win Oscars for later on."

Based on the popular children's novel by Gail Carson Levine, Ella Enchanted sees our plucky young heroine embark on a moderately dangerous quest to convince her fairy godmother to lift the obedience curse. Along the way she makes all sorts of allies and enemies, hooking up with talking book Jimi Mistry and neurotic elf Aidan McArdle, cousin of Steve Coogan, who lends his voice to evil King Cary Elwes's talking snake Heston. Familiar faces dotted throughout the movie include Eric Idle as a rhyming narrator, Joanna Lumley as Ella's wicked stepmother, Jim Carter as an ogre, Heidi Klum as a giant, Minnie Driver, Parminder Nagra, Patrick Begin… the list just goes on and on.

Much like A Knight's Tale, the music score is wildly anachronistic, yet somehow it all comes together. Like when Ella is commanded to sing, and she comes out with Queen standard Somebody To Love. Then there's a duet between Ella and Prince Char, Don't Go Breaking My Heart. Really, this is one of those movies where you just have to sit back and accept the madness. Like wooden escalators. It doesn't pay to knock it too much. Allow yourself to enjoy it and you will.

Besides, Hathaway is a real sweetheart. "When I first met her," says co-star Dancy, "I was really impressed by the way she combined charm and comedy, and blended the two seamlessly. She made it feel incredibly natural, which I think is the hallmark of a very good actress and comedienne. You don't try and play a gag, you just offer up a character who happens to be quite funny or quirky or whatever and make it believable."

Director Tommy O'Haver was similarly impressed with Dancy. "He not only has the charisma, looks and intelligence to be the believable heir to a kingdom, but also he has a wonderfully silly sense of humor. He and Anne were just so funny together," said O'Haver of his stars' undeniable chemistry.

Certainly the author has given the movie her seal of approval. Regarding her first viewing of the film, Levin says "…it was a little bit like an out of body experience. Especially when I see my name on the screen - it's me but it's not me. It's strange and wonderful. One of my sister-in-laws wept when she saw it. I think I'm too astonished, at this point, to weep, but I may come to it."

Brighten up your list with this enchanting adventure, a good-looking treat with lots of romance and a great sense of humour. "You eat maiden," says ogre Jim Carter, "one hour you're hungry again."

Blockbuster Online favourite Anne Hathaway stole the show when she took the lead role in The Princess Diaries; Since then, Blockbuster's favourite princess has gone on to star in several films featuring many of Hollywood's most talented stars. Anne was considered for the role of Christine Daae in last year's – The Phantom of the Opera but was unavailable as she was already filming The Princess Diaries 2. We caught up with the forever cheerful Anne when she came over to talk of her latest Princess adventure – the wonderful Ella Enchanted...

Were you concerned, after The Princes Diaries movies, about playing another Princess role in Ella Enchanted?

“ There's nothing really that put me off of this, obviously, because I did it. But I was a little nervous because I was aware that this film would be very much for the audience of The Princess Diaries. I thought about that and Tommy and I talked, and he understood my apprehension. He said it would be a very different film and he stayed true to his word. Everyone has said ‘Oh you did another Princess film' - but she didn't become one until the end! It was very different. Also tonally, if you see the films together this one is a little bit different. I think it's a bit sassier than The Princess Diaries which is a bit more saccharine. It's very easy to pigeon hole this and say it's a fairytale, it's cute, it's sweet, there's singing and dancing. But I think it has a wonderful heart and I think it's a very quirky film. ”

What about working in Ireland?

“ The thing that was so interesting with CGI was the way that Tommy tweaked the littlest details of the film. There's this one establishing shot of Char and Ella on horseback where we're walking on the beach. I was in London when Tommy showed me the original one, which was a very pretty picture. But he added in special clouds and made the sun look a certain way. Little details that really affected the overall look of the film. The funny thing is there's one and a half film crews in Ireland and they work on every single project. Half of the film crews there do commercials, so if one person gets sick on the main one the other goes in and it's a really big thing because that person's out for a while until they get another opening. It's almost like doing theatre, when the understudy gets their big chance. ”

Are you now looking to do edgier work in films like you have done in Brokeback Mountain?

“ I think it's always wonderful to have family films as an option open to you. They're very necessary films to make, to give kids more options. I didn't set out with the intention of doing this, but what I've seen is that kids don't believe in magic so much any more. It's very difficult nowadays, so to give them a film that lets them hold on to that a little while longer is a wonderful thing - and I know how noble that sounds. Speaking personally, I'm ready to move past it, but there are fabulous family films like Spy Kids and The Incredibles and Ella Enchanted that you can feel very fulfilled by. But at the same time I am interested in playing more complex roles like the one in Brokeback Mountain. ”

What is your favourite fantasy film?

“ Pretty Woman. That's never, ever going to happen but it's still a lot of fun to watch. And Brazil. ”

What sort of reaction do you get from your audience?

“ It's very sweet, because children have taken these films very seriously. The other day this 9 year old came up to me and said ‘I've been waiting my whole life to meet you!'. Basically it's very sweet, they say how much they appreciate it and how lovely it is. It's been very special how some of the films I've made have been a staple in somebody's childhood, something they're going to remember forever. It's helped them form early impressions. I'm very proud of the work that I've done. There was this one time I went to a friend's house for a dinner party, and this couple had a child, and guess who wanted to play ‘Princess'? And guess who couldn't say no to a four year old! She called me Mia the entire night. But you just have to understand that it's a moment for her and it's one night for me, so it's no big deal to play along with it. ”

How has Ella Enchanted performed in the USA?

“ I do have to say that Ella Enchanted is doing very well on DVD in the USA. It has found it's audience. It's kind of like the cutest cult film ever made. ”

Who are the great stars you would yearn to work with?

“ Audrey Hepburn was just perfect, as lovely and as gracious as they come. And someone who was a bit more mysterious and had a darker sexuality about her Grace Kelly. And just in terms of being a screen legend, Lauren Bacall. But you know who I did just get to meet? Olivia De Havilland. She was fabulous. I'd always loved her work, but I was not aware of what political change she'd created for women in Hollywood. She was the one who brought about a ban on morality clauses, thing like pregnancy not being allowed unless it was cleared by the studio. And a woman could not be seen drinking or smoking in public, or having extra marital affairs. It was very inhibiting. ”

Where did you meet?

“ We were at an awards show together, so it was wonderful to get to meet her. I would love to have worked with Peter Sellers too. He was so talented. Bette Davis too. Also Alec Guinness, he was such a versatile actor, he would have been wonderful. ”

Do you fancy some fully fledged singing roles - in a film like Chicago perhaps?

“ I would be very lucky if I got to do that, but it's been my fantasy since I was 9 years old to do My Fair Lady. That would be lovely, it would work out really wonderfully. But somebody owns the rights right now and I don't think they're going to give them up. But hopefully we can do it before I get too old. ”

Are you planning to do an album?

“ It's so far off in the future. My real dream is to get up in a small, intimate, smoky jazz club and sing a lot of the standards. Just recently I did a benefit concert at a New York city centre, their Encore series, and it was really great because I got to sing a few torch songs. I'm not really allowed to sing them for another 25 years so it was great, a lot of fun. But it's something that I'm keeping in the back on my mind right now. And last summer I did the workshop for The Woman In White. I was slated to be in the original cast, but I had a film come up. It was Brokeback Mountain, and you don't say no to Ang Lee. So I had to say no to Andrew Lloyd Webber, but these are really good problems to have. ”

What's next?

“ I'm actually going to Cambodia to help do a documentary that Angelina Jolie is producing. She's sending out 25 film crews with different actors she's worked with and people she knows. What we're doing, on the same moment of the same day wherever we are in the world - someone is in the New York Stock Exchange, someone else is going to the Berlin Wall, she's going to the desert - and we're all going to turn on our cameras and film what we see. So the documentary is going to be about what's going on in the world at the exact same moment. ”

Anne Hathaway Filmography

Ella Enchanted

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