Enchanted

It's your classic Disney animated tale - a girl (Amy Adams) living in the woods alone, apart from the menagerie of rodents that do around the house, discovered by a prince (James Marsden) and ready to be married with all the happily ever after gumpf that goes with it.

So when the prince’s wicked step-mother (Susan Sarandon) diverts the girl on the way to the service with the promise of a wishing well, it’s no surprise when our heroine is pushed down into it and a land with ‘no happily ever afters’ in modern real-life New York. And so our story begins...

Although it sounds like the sappiest thing since Sapville had its annual sappsome competition, it’s really quite on the ball, managing to please both idealistic kids and sly adults alike. With a recent survey reported on the BBC of chick-lit being one reason for the rise in depression in modern society, it seems that abolishing unrealistic expectations and happily ever afters is encouraged even by Disney.

Although still saccharine sweet, this is finely acted and highly enjoyable. An excellent contemporary fairytale that’ll leave everyone walking on air out of the cinema.

Released on 14th December 2007 by Walt Disney Pictures.

Written by Victoria Nangle.