Enchanted

An animated fairy-tale heroine (Amy Adams) is banished by a wicked queen (Susan Sarandon) to the real-world Manhattan, where a lawyer (Patrick Dempsey) reluctantly takes her in to await rescue by her handsome prince (James Marsden). Bill Kelly’s winsomely clever script tends to run out of steam in the second half, after a marvelous musical production number set in Central Park (the movie includes a handful of charming songs by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz). For a while the film dangles precariously by the thread of Adams’ sweetness, but Kelly and director Kevin Lima regain their footing in time to bring things to a satisfying end on an up note of romantic charm. Timothy Spall contributes comic relief as Sarandon’s bumbling henchman, and Broadway’s Idina Menzel is underused as Dempsey’s girlfriend.