Ella Enchanted (2004)

Director:

Tommy O'Haver

Writers (WGA):

Laurie Craig (screenplay) and
Karen McCullah Lutz (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

9 April 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Romance

Tagline:

Get enchanted

Plot:

Ella is under a spell to be constantly obedient, a fact she must hide from her new step-family in order to protect the prince of the land, her friend for whom she's falling.

Plot Keywords:

Prince | Obedience | Quest | Curse | Ogre

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Anne Hathaway	...	Ella
Hugh Dancy	...	Char
Cary Elwes	...	Edgar
Aidan McArdle	...	Slannen
Joanna Lumley	...	Dame Olga
Lucy Punch	...	Hattie
Jennifer Higham	...	Olive
Minnie Driver	...	Mandy
Eric Idle	...	Narrator
Steve Coogan	...	Heston (voice)
Jimi Mistry	...	Benny
Vivica A. Fox	...	Lucinda
Parminder Nagra	...	Areida
Jim Carter	...	Nish
Patrick Bergin	...	Sir Peter

MPAA:

Rated PG for some crude humor and language.

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA | Ireland | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG (certificate #40090) | Malaysia:U | Netherlands:6 | Portugal:M/6 | Germany:o.Al. | New Zealand:PG | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Canada:G | Finland:K-7 | Ireland:PG | Peru:PT | Philippines:G | Singapore:PG | UK:PG | Brazil:Livre

Filming Locations:

Ardmore Studios - Herbert Road, Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland

Company:

Miramax Films

Trivia:

EASTER EGG: There are several faces hidden in the image throughout the movie. An easter egg on the DVD shows you where they are. To access this feature, go to "Special Features" section and there select the menu entry for "Prince Charmont's Fan Club". On the next page, use the directional keys on your remote control to highlight the Prince's face in the heart between the "Exit" and "Play" buttons. Now press the Enter key and you will have the chance to see a brief featurette on the different hidden faces. If you don't have the DVD, here's the list of hidden faces in order of appearance: 1. During the opening pan across the countryside, when you see the unicorn, the side of the wall where the branches are broken forms the silhouette of a face in profile. The broken part of the wall makes the forehead, nose, and mouth; the branches make the hair, eyebrow, and eye. 2&3. There are two hidden faces in the pages of the magic book when Mandy (Minnie Driver) first opens it. 4. When Prince Char and Ella see the giants working in the field, there's a face hidden in the hill on the left side. You can see it in the shot that starts on the guard towers and pans right to the field (the last shot of the giants). It might also be visible in the very first shot of the giants, but only in the wide-screen version. 5. When Ella is chained to the tree, there is a small face hidden in the middle of the tree in between the two outreached branches (that look like short arms). It can be very hard, if not impossible, to see on some copies of the film (especially if the print is kinda dark).

Goofs:

Continuity: While Ella is talking to Areida on moving staircase, her hair is behind her on her back, but when they start to argue her hair is in front.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: Fairy tales tell, as their labels imply / Stories of magic, of creatures that fly / With giants and dragons and ogres and elves / And inanimate objects that speak for themselves / There's romance and danger and plotting of schemes / There's good guys...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Greek: Let's Make a Deal (#2.3)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

It's Not Just Make Believe

A sweet and charming movie

Ella Enchanted is a charming film that's good for the whole family. In this storybook fairy tale gone wrong, Anne Hathaway plays Ella, a girl given the magical gift of "obedience" by her fairy godmother at birth which turns into a curse because she can't refuse any command, even from those who abuse this fact. To try to regain control of her life, Ella goes on a quest to get the "gift" removed, meeting ogres and giants and a dreamy prince (Hugh Dancy) along the way. The plot sounds stupid but the movie is a lot better then I expected it to be. Its hard to take the film serious at some points though and sometimes its not exactly clear what the plot is. I have never read the book so I can't compare but my friend said that they change a lot of things. The cast, for the most part, is pretty good with the best being Anne Hathaway but she needs to start picking different roles to avoid being a typecast. I thought the acting from Hugh Dancy was horrible and it would have been better if they would have gone with someone else. Vivica A. Fox, Cary Elwes and Minnie Driver all have small roles and all do good job. The film is of course cheesy at some parts and all the gimmickry can become annoying after awhile. The film is pretty predictable but that shouldn't turn you away .The film is only 96 minutes long so it isn't a real punishment to watch the film. There are some things about the movie that didn't make sense and there are also a lot of pointless characters that could have been used without. In the end I think kids will really like Ella Enchanted Rating 7/10 if you have never read the book then you have a better chance of enjoying it. However, if you have read the book then you will probably hate it {like my friend did} because they change a lot.