Ella Enchanted (2004)

Tweener entertainment has moments that bring it beyond the average young-chick flick. While it's essentially pitched at the level of a live-action Shrek, there's a certain restless intelligence bubbling below the surface (as well as a welcome strain of weird) that keeps the film from sinking into that particular swamp. It helps that the cast appears to believe in the project whole hog (the Cary Elwes on display here can't be the same Cary Elwes who whinged his way through Saw), but most importantly it helps that Anne Hathaway believes in the project. It's on her shoulders that this rests, and it's her particular tart-yet-sweet persona that makes the funny parts work and keeps the sappy parts from being too noxious. In fact, my respect for her is now enormous, as the balance between tart and sweet is difficult to maintain. (Lindsay Lohan tries too hard for tartness, which brings a desperately false air to her films when they try for sweetness; meanwhile, Hilary Duff probably thinks 'tart' is just something British people eat.) The film still leans too hard towards the "Once Upon a More Enlightened Time" shtick, but it's a bit of a surprise anyway.

Grade: B-