(Trailer can be downloaded as QT and MPG)

While teen-age boys (and their dads) get their manly-blood pumping at Beowulf, a perfect alternative for the girls is Disney’s Enchanted, a wonderfully imaginative and engaging fusion of vintage animation and current New York City modernity. Toss in some great performances, delightful songs and classic fairy-tale love story and you have what amounts to a sure-fire hit and a candidate for feel-good movie of the year.

The first fifteen minutes of the film are animated in classic Disney style and sets up the very familiar story of a young girl named Giselle eagerly awaiting for “True Love’s Kiss” from Prince Edward, set in the magical land of Andalasia with every Disney cliché (but that’s not a bad thing) from talking animals to the evil Queen Narissa. The diabolical queen devises a plan to cast the unsuspecting Giselle down a well to a destination where “there are no happily-ever-afters”—which happens to be New York City.

Giselle (Amy Adams) emerges from a manhole in live-action, smack dab in the middle of a Manhattan street. Lost and confused but still bubbly optimistic, she looks for help among the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple. She encounters weary divorced single-dad Robert (Patrick Dempsey), a cynical divorce lawyer who is about to plunge into his second marriage. He reluctantly helps the ditzy damsel-in-distress and is oddly attracted to her simple view of life. In contrast to his hard heart and the harsh reality of his own life, she represents a beacon of hope. His fiancee Nancy (Idina Menzel, video interview) is a little less than amused.

In pursuit of the princess-to-be, Prince Edward (James Marsden, video interview ) follows Giselle into the real world. Dressed in classic prince garb with tights and puffy sleeves he hams his way through common rituals such as TV remote controls, city buses and the blessings of street vendor food. He is quickly followed by the queen’s servant Nathaniel (Timothy Spall), and a frantic chipmunk who cannot speak—of course, because he’s no longer animated!

Patrick Dempsey and Amy Adams

Adams is letter-perfect as Giselle with her exaggerated inflections and innocent charm. Dempsey also is dynamite as the potential possessor of “true love’s kiss.” (I have never heard more grown women and teenage girls sigh just at the sight of one man! I guess he is McDreamy after all.) The show-stealer though is Marsden, who showed off his vocal chops earlier this year in Hairspray. He has a ball as Prince Edward and to call his performance hammy would be an understatement.

The stark reality of real world living in contrast to the fairy-tale existence of Giselle, Edward, and Nathaniel is used for comic effect—with good results. But it also illustrates a serious undertone of the cynicism and harshness of a fallen world. Things such as divorce, “love” not lasting forever, growing up without a parent, and the absence of chivalry is a culture shock to the wide-eyed princess. Her naivete is charming—yet it has an undercurrent of sadness and remorse that resonates deep within the hearts of us all, whether we are princesses (or princes for that matter) or not. The concept of brokenness and “meanness” (as Giselle puts it) creates a longing within us for a world that is not like our own: a world that is not corrupted by the selfishness and hard-heartedness of mankind. It is this longing in Enchanted that makes our spirit soar as we witness the coming together of two worlds that, while it may lack perfection, is as perfect as you can get in this life.