Back in the day (late 2006), when I started to see previews for Enchanted, I cringed.  I honest-to-god cringed.  What could be more hokey than a half-cartoon/half-live action feature about an animated princess who comes to life?  I chalked it up to another movie that makes me question the existence of God.

Then, when it came out last year and everyone crowed about how great it was, I thought, okay, I could be wrong. It’s rare, but it’s certainly happened before. I took apart the elements. That Amy Adams girl is shaping up to be a good actress.  I love Susan Sarandon.  Seeing a Prince Charming get flattened by bicycles made me snort every time I saw it in the commercials.  But I still didn’t see it, because let’s face it, $9 is a lot of money.  Enchanted, for me, was the definition of a renter.

I am glad I rented it this weekend, because now I can see what all the hype is (and isn’t) about.  Enchanted follows Giselle (played pretty brilliantly by Amy Adams), a wide-eyed forest dweller who gets swept off her feet by Prince Edward (a loopy James Marsden), only to get transported to New York by the evil queen/stepmother.  Wackiness ensues and everyone learns a valuable lesson.

There are standouts to this movie. For instance, the “Happy Working Song” sequence is fairly nauseating and awfully funny as we watch New York woodland creatures (roaches, pigeons and rats) clean a messy apartment.  Amy Adams is hilarious as she traipses around New York dressed like the top of a wedding cake.  And James Marsden certainly commits to his ridiculously vain and witless character.

But that’s about it.  British actor Timothy Spall (Beadle from Sweeney Todd and Peter Pettigrew from Harry Potter) ranges from funny to offensive as he disguises himself in New York City stereotypes in order to trick Giselle with a plot device, I mean, apple.  Susan Sarandon, who I normally adore, chews some serious scenery as Queen Narissa.

And then there’s the plot.  The plot is basically a reinforcement of all things Disney.  No, you shouldn’t be a cynic or feminist when it comes to love. You should just plunge in and be the princess you know you are. Just like they’ve been telling you for fifty years or so.  Except this time, they’ve put an ironic, self-referential spin on the whole thing, because that’s kind of cool right now.

Moral of the story — rent Enchanted for the light-hearted fluff that it is and never underestimate the messaging power of Disney.