BrianKoller's Full Review: Ever After: A Cinderella Story
There is much to like about "Ever After",
which performs revisionist history on
'Cinderella' to make the lead character
more pro-active, in tune with the 1990s.
The sets, costumes and cinematography are
excellent. The cast is also good, and
there are patches of well-written dialogue.
While some will find the film to be an
enjoyable diversion, problems with pacing,
story and characters keep it from being a
good film.
The story takes place in France circa
1500. Drew Barrymore stars as Danielle,
who lives with her stepmother but is forced
to work as a servant. The 'wicked' stepmom
is Baroness de Ghent, campily played by
Anjelica Huston. de Ghent has two daughters,
smug beauty Marguerite (Megan Dodds) and
more down-to-earth Jacqueline (Melanie Lynskey).
Through a series of unlikely coincidences,
Danielle keeps coming into contact with Henry,
the crown prince of France (Dougray Scott).
Henry quickly falls for Danielle, assumedly
because she is willing to tell him off. But
there are many obstacles on the way to happily
ever after, mostly due to the machinations
of de Ghent.
Admittedly, I enjoyed sections of this film,
but I kept asking myself questions about the
characters and the plot. Why would Leonardo
Da Vinci (Patrick Godfrey) care about Danielle's
plight? How did Danielle's father train her
to be an expert fencer when he died when she
was eight? What were the gypsies going to
do with Prince Henry? Why is Danielle so
fearless before Henry and a creepy merchant,
but so submissive to her cruel stepmom?
Why does Henry's personality and politics
change so quickly? Why is Jacqueline so
different from mother and sister? Did Da Vinci
really keep the Mona Lisa rolled up like a
movie poster? Why doesn't anybody have a
French accent? (35/100)
Danielle Drew Barrymore orphaned by her father's death is raised by a wicked and snotty stepmother Anjelica Huston and her two daughters. When she acc...More at Family Video
This enchanting contemporary retelling of the classic fairy tale stars Barrymore as a savvy, modern young woman of the 16th Century whose strength and...More at HotMovieSale.com
Once upon a time... a dazzling rendering of the Cinderella story (The Washington Post) brought new life to an age-old legend and made us believe in th...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.