EVER AFTER A film review by David N. Butterworth Copyright 1998 David N. Butterworth
*** (out of ****)
Those behind "Ever After" have taken an enormous gamble. In perhaps the boldest piece of counter-programming this summer, 20th Century Fox is pitting its disarming Cinderella story against earth-threatening meteorites, swashbuckling Mexicans, soldiers of both the small and saved variety, not to mention that mean green lizard who's still stomping around out there.
But judging from the reaction of a largely youthful Monday night crowd--and a pretty voluminous one at that--"Ever After" seems to be well on its way to becoming a surprise hit.
What screenwriters Susannah Grant, Rick Parks, and Andy Tennant (who also serves as the film's director) have done here is to come up with a slightly different take on the classic Cinderella fairy tale. Only--and this is what's most intriguing about the film--it's not really all that different. You can't call it a "modern" adaptation of the story, since most of the film takes place in 16th-century France. And simply referring to it as a "live action" version doesn't quite cut it either.
Perhaps the film's closing voiceover explains things best: "It's not that they lived happily ever after, it's that they lived."
The story is the standard riches-to-rags tale of a young girl forced to live and work for her unsympathetic stepfamily and falling for a handsome prince in the process. There are some nice enhancements to the yarn, like the stepsisters not being particularly ugly (one even turns out to be an ally), and the prince not wanting "those certain obligations that come with privilege."
But the true pleasure in watching "Ever After" is believing that this fairy story (attributed to the Brothers Grimm) actually happened to real people.
The film is a big step up for Tennant (whose previous turn at bat was the Matthew Perry/Salma Hayek romantic comedy "Fools Rush In") and he rises to the occasion. While more functional than inspired in the production design department, "Ever After" nevertheless features some impressive French chateaux, "Babe"-inspired rustic settings and, to back all that prettiness up, a George Fenton score that makes more than a casual nod to Mark Knopfler's lyrical musings for The Princess Bride.
Drew Barrymore is the cinders-encrusted Danielle and she continues her stilted acting style that served her well in "The Wedding Singer" (that's two enchanting films for two this year from Barrymore). Her popularity among teenage girls is clearly evident, yet Barrymore manages to win the entire audience over with her genuine smile and plucky joie de vivre.
Dougray Scott, looking partly handsome and partly like Oliver Platt, plays the charming prince Henry, and Anjelica Huston, who appears to have learned a thing or two from the raised eyebrow school of acting courtesy former beau Jack Nicholson, pulls out all the stops as Danielle's wicked stepmother, the Baroness Rodmilla.
"Ever After" might also be one of the few films to feature Leonardo da Vinci solely for comic relief.
Finally, a side note for parents. The film is rated PG-13, but the rating is ludicrous. Save for Danielle's father suffering a heart attack early on in the film, which is no worse than anything in most of Disney's G-rated features, and da Vinci once referring to manure by a more colorful term, there's nothing in "Ever After" that couldn't be seen--and thoroughly enjoyed--by young children.
-- David N. Butterworth dnb@mail.med.upenn.edu
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