In its innocence, sweet heart and abundant wit, it has more going for it, by my accounting, than a dozen more expensive-looking films.
Comment
04/09/04
Ella Enchanted (2004)
50
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:111
Fresh:55
Rotten:56
Average Rating:5.5/10
Consensus: Hathaway is a charming heroine, but the simple storyline gets overwhelmed by silly gimmickry.
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: Similar to SHREK and THE PRINCESS BRIDE, this fantasy adventure, based on a book by Gail Carson Levine, combines fairy tale with sly, 21st century pop humor. Teenage Ella (THE PRINCESS DIARIES'... [More]
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Hugh Dancy, Joanna Lumley, Cary Elwes
Director: Tommy O'Haver
Reviews for Ella Enchanted
This all makes for good and entertaining fun, from the musical numbers of 1980s pop tunes to the flamboyant fight scenes. For a while. But you've seen this all before.
04/09/04
Mostly ... the film bubbles along happily.
04/09/04
O'Haver ... has a great time juggling silly jokes, contemporary tunes and anachronisms like hand-cranked escalators at the medieval mall.
04/09/04
Click to read the article
04/09/04
Top CriticClick to read the article
04/09/04
The film's lush scenery and sharp modern twists cast a powerful spell.
04/09/04
Artful enough to intrigue adults and far more original than other versions of Cinderella portrayed onscreen with alarming regularity.
04/09/04
Ella is under a spell that makes her obey all orders -- will someone please order Hathaway to stay pretty in better movies?
04/09/04
Squanders the comic potential of the source material through poorly timed gags and hit-or-miss one-liners.
04/09/04
The vehicle that carries [Hathaway] is a bit of a mouldy pumpkin.
04/09/04
It's a high-spirited charmer, a fantasy that sparkles with delights.
04/09/04
Top CriticAnne Hathaway’s performance as a cursed maiden in this time-jumbled fantasy is enchanting... but the movie is not.
04/09/04
What could have been wonderful has been processed into cute but throwaway fluff. It lingers like a half-cast spell.
04/09/04
It's the MTV, Teen Beat-lovin' teenage girls who will sing its praises the loudest.
04/09/04
Ella embraces the conventions of the fairy tale . . . while simultaneously gently spoofing them.
04/09/04
Score one for Ella Enchanted, an overpowering winner in the realm of smart family entertainment.
04/09/04
Click to read the article
04/09/04
Top CriticIf you picked the four dimmest attendees at a Renaissance fair and told them to go remake The Princess Bride, you'd get something like this cloying stomach-churner.
04/09/04
An enchanting little story that will make you smile.
04/09/04
Latest News for Ella Enchanted
August 06, 2009:
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