Anne Hathaway is an actress many people will remember her face just for her initial break out in film alone. She wasn’t even twenty when she starred in The Princess Diaries (2001) and that is what many will think of first the name is mentioned. Prior to the sequel The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004), she would only take a couple more roles like The Cat Returns (2002) and Nicholas Nickleby (2002), both of which were thought to be well made films. However the same year of the sequel, she played in this movie which is in a way, is Hathaway trying to break off from being type casted without completely flipping off the audience that loved her in that kind of movie. It’s interesting that she played in two princess-like movies the same year – just one is more of a play on the concept than the other.
The story is about a girl named Ella (Anne Hathaway) who has a cursed placed on her by a fairy godmother Lucinda (Vivica A. Fox), where she must be obedient when it comes to anyone telling her what to do. Her mother (Donna Dent) and house fairy Mandy (Minnie Driver) object to this but Lucinda goes through with it anyway. Years later after her mother passes away, her father (Patrick Bergin) marries Dame Olga (Joanna Lumley) with her own two daughters Olive (Jennifer Higham) and Hattie (Lucy Punch). Meanwhile, Prince Char (Hugh Dancy) will be coronated with the help from his uncle Edgar (Cary Elwes). Directed by Tommy O'Haver the path this narrative takes items from various prince/princess genre films and puts them together. That’s not the surprising bit though – this film had five writers.
Michele J. Wolff, Jennifer Heath, and Jennifer Heath have all worked on productions before but none that are fully well known. While the others Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith are the two responsible for 10 Things I Hate About You (1999) and Legally Blonde (2001). The premise behind this movie and the other execution is just weird most of the time. For a character to have to do every single little thing someone says it just annoying. Rightfully so, that’s the point but it doesn’t really make for good comedy. It’s just predictable and gets tiring. Besides, what fairy godmother in their right mind would give this curse as a “gift” as they so call it? It makes no sense. Adding to that are the clichés used for other characters like Prince Char’s uncle. The pet uncle Edgar carries around is a snake named Heston (Steve Coogan), it can’t be any more obvious – other than the mustache Cary Elwes wears.
The setting is also hard to figure out. It’s narrated as a fairy tale from Eric Idle and looks like it takes place in medival times which includes Ogres like Nish (Jim Carter) and Elves like Slannen (Aidan McArdle). Yet at the same time contemporary music numbers are sung which characters are familiar with. So what era does this story actually take place again? Even Slannen wants to become a lawyer. Did those jobs even exist back in ye olden times? There are some moments that are funny but there aren’t enough to sustain a lot of charm. All the actors perform well in their roles but because of how repetitive the main gag is it gets old quickly. The actor who looked like he had the most fun was Cary Elwes for just being the plain as day character that he plays.
The visuals used in this movie were a mixed bag too. John de Borman as the director of photography did a nice job capturing the European landscapes. Audiences familiar with these types of backdrops should be able to pick them out easily. Unfortunately, these backgrounds are ruined by some really bad early CGI effects. It’s sad too because Borman also worked on Death Machine (1994) a decade before was able to conceal much cheaper effects and make it look good. Music was sadly not much better either as there wasn’t much really to recall about it. Composed by Nick Glennie-Smith, the film score suits the scenes filmed but none of the actual themes shine through. It’s also a shame because Glennie-Smith scored the music to We Were Soldiers (2002) which was a decent album and Highlander: Endgame (2000).
Overall the movie is kind of strange. The premise gets redundant quickly with a setting that can’t figure out what era it wants to stick with. The music is also forgettable. Acting works and can be funny sometimes but the overall idea is short lived. The camerawork looks good until special effects are seen too.
Points Earned --> 6:10
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