Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly enjoyable
Review: This is the kind of movie that no self-respecting guy would admit to liking in front of his friends. Seeing as i have no self-respect and even fewer friends, i have no reservations in stating that i loved this one from start to finish. It is a clever and highly original retelling of the classic Cinderella story, set in France. The entire cast does an inspired job. Drew Barrymore hasn't been this endearing since "E.T." (or was it "Doppelganger" ? I keep confusing the two), Anjelica Huston is a fittingly loathsome stepmother and even the featured "prince charming" i found easy to stomach. Need i recount the (allegedly true) tale ? (daughter turned lowly servant turned pretend courtier turned princess) Check elsewhere !The pre-feminist subtext is hard to overlook, but far from obtrusive. Couldn't help liking the not so evil second stepsister. No fantastic elements are introduced: there is no evidence of sorcery, or a pumpkin anywhere to be found. Replacing the fairy godmother with Leonardo da Vinci of all people is a stroke of genius, adding to the credibility of the storyline. The payoff is thoroughly satisfactory, leaving you with a smile on your face. My fellow countryman Jeroen Krabbé (Barrymore's father) sees his acting career cut short as he is killed off within the first five minutes or so. The whole thing is accompanied by a great music score. Set aside your prejudice & suspend your disbelief. This is 1 hour and 57 minutes well spent !
Rating:
Summary: HILARIOUS, REALISTIC VARIATION ON A FAIRY TALE
Review: I watch this whenever I need a lift and new realeases are tedious and too serious. The acting isn't Oscar caliber, but who the heck cares! This movie offers the kind of smart-comic fun that made flics like 'The Princess Bride' so popular. Drew is a bold, self-reliant Cinderella. Imagine that! She's passionate about books and inspires an otherwise dull prince. But hey, Dougray is easy on the eyes and a very involved love interest. Together they are fallible but lovable. The gypsy scene where Danielle carries the Prince off in her arms is too much. Talk about role reversals! It's about time we poke fun at fairy tale ideals. Angelica Houston almost steals the show as the wicked stepmother (with a twist). There's almost a glimmer of tenderness in her. Well, it doesn't last long, but it makes her wickedness easier to digest. The purple dye scene...perfect. The part of Leonardo Da Vinci was an excellent addition! His sage advice and adorable wit rules the destined future of Henry and Danielle. [*The discoveries series does a great illustrated biography of the compelling artist. His life was fascinating.] On a wayward note: This movie actually inspired me to read Sir Thomas Moore's 'Utopia'. His philosophical essay of a harmonious island population is reverent and revolutionary.
Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly a wonderful movie
Review: I didn't bother seeing this movie when it first came out. I had the feeling it would be a tad too silly for me. A friend of mine brought it for me to watch one day with some other movies. I kept this one for last (dreading to watch it). Boy, I was wrong. I loved this movie. The retelling of Cinderella was great and I absolutely loved Drew Barrymore's character and the way she was portrayed.
Rating: 
Summary: A five-star movie, but a slightly disappointing DVD.
Review: As far as the movie itself goes, this is a beautiful rendition of the age-old Cinderella story. The plot is conventional, without too many surprises, but it was perfectly cast and holds together throughout. The story is set in Renaissance France. Drew Barrymore's performance as Danielle, an orphan commoner forced to act as a servant to her noble step-mother and step-sisters, is flawless. When one of Danielle's fellow servants is slated for shipment to the Americas as a thief (a scapegoat for the step-mother's debts), Danielle disguises herself as a lady of the court in order to exact his freedom. While in disguise, she is spotted by the French Prince, Henry (Dougray Scott), who is fascinated by her spirit. Believing her to be a noblewoman, he falls in love with her, but her sister Marguerite has her own designs on the prince, and she and her mother will stop at nothing to get Danielle out of the way. The supporting cast is wonderful as well. Anjelica Huston as the stepmother and Megan Dodds as Marguerite just ooze with malice and contempt. Their wicked scheming is both sinister and delightful to watch at the same time. The second step-sister, Jacqueline, who in this version of the story is only slighter better treated than Cinderella herself, is portrayed by Melanie Lynskey. She does a terrific job of showing her character's torn emotions, wanting to please her mother, but sympathetic to her unfairly-treated step-sister. And finally, the addition of Leonardo da Vinci (Patrick Godfrey) to the story as court painter was a stroke of genius in more than one way. A friend of the prince, his words of wisdom end up turning him into something of a matchmaker. The film is further enhanced by beautiful cinematography (the opening credit sequence alone is breathtaking), gorgeous period costumes, and a wonderful musical score. The story is not, of course, historically accurate, but then it isn't supposed to be. This is a fairy tale, and in that regard it is executed to perfection. My only disappointment is with the DVD itself. The "Bonus Features" link in the menu is a joke, as it leads to nothing more than the theatrical trailer. There isn't a single featurette, or cast/crew interview, or anything. A movie like this could have had some great material discussing the process of developing this adaptation, the costumes, and casting choices, the music, etc. I would love to know more about the thought processes behind this film, and for this omission I have to drop my overall rating of the DVD to a four, though I'd give the movie itself a five. I almost hope they release some sort of special edition in the future, with featurettes included, though then I'd be forced to buy it all over again. But nevertheless, this is definitely a DVD worth owning. The charisma of the entire cast makes this the perfect Cinderella story.
Rating:
Summary: Dougray and Drew...Together.
Review: The two young leads in this beautiful rendering of the Cinderella Story posess such lovely chemistry, one can actually forgive some of the historical mistakes included in this film. Dougray Scott portrays the handsome, regal (if somewhat befuddled)Prince Henry who 'suffers from an arranged marriage' and wishes 'only to be freed from his gilded cage'(ie; the responsibilities of his royal lineage) and find his true love and purpose in life. He finds both in the form of a poor servant girl Danielle (Drew Barrymore actually stretching a bit, albeit with an iffy accent that comes and goes)whom he mistakes as a Countess and falls madly in love with. Angelica Houston is note perfect as the evil Stepmother Rodmilla DeGhent, she makes every line she utters fairly drip with contempt and bitterness, and Patrick Godfrey is flawless as Leonardo Da Vinci, the artist in residence at the castle, home to King Francis(Timothy West) and his lovely Queen (Judy Parfitt). This is essentially a typical boy meets girl story and the resolution is reached almost too easily and tidy for my taste, but what elevates this piece far and above it's peers is the lush cinematography and enthusiastic cast who seem to be having the time of thier lives. "Ever After" is grandly entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent movie!!!!
Review: This is one of my favorite movies of all time! Of course, as its known by the title the story is based on the Cinderella fairy tale, but in this movie the heroine is smart and strong, yet vunerable at the same time. Drew Barrymore is great and Angelica Houston is just wondrously wicked as the evil step- mother. This movie is recomended to every woman!
Rating:
Summary: Cinerella in a New Light
Review: This past weekend I had the pleasure of seeing one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. I am speaking of Ever After starring Drew Barrymore and Angelica Huston. This is a Cinderella story with a bit of a twist. The film opens with an ageing Princess being visited by to two gentlemen who turn out to be the Brothers Grimm. She compliments them on their work and mentions her fascination with the tale of the little cinder girl. While the brothers joke about pumpkins and fairy godmothers the princess reveals the glass slipper and offers to tell them the true tale. Danielle gains a step-mother and two step-sisters when her father marries a Countess. Soon she runs into the Prince. She thinks he is a thief and pelts him with apples. When she realizes her mistake she offers up her life. But the Prince in on the run so he rewards her with gold. Danielle uses the gold to buy back the husband of one of the servants. But to do so she must impersonate a courtier and runs into the Prince again. She manages to sneak away but only after giving her mother's name as her own. The stage is now set. The Prince does not want to marry the Spanish Princess his father has arranged for and seeks out Danielle. Under the pretense that she is a courtier they spend time together and a romance blossoms. The Prince is all set to announce his engagement (made at midnight at a ball) to Danielle but her step-mother reveals her base heritage and the Prince becomes angry. But in the end everything works out and the scene returns to the Brothers Grimm and Danielle's great-granddaughter. There are no elements of the fantastic in this tale. No magic of fairies. Instead an attempt is made to place the tale firmly into history. The story is set in France in the Sixteenth century with the Prince being the Crown Prince of France. A little more cement is added in the form of Leonardo Da.. Vinci who has arrived to be the Royal Artist. Could this be during the two-year gap in Leonardo's history? I don't know. I do know that the movie is filled with humor, adventure and romance and stars a Cinderella who is a bit more competent than other renditions. Angelica Huston is perfect as the step-mother. She really has the knack of being totally evil and proper at the same time. My only problem with the film was that the younger step-sister resembled Drew Barrymore a little too much. But that is a very minor point and hardly detracts from the film. I whole-heartedly recommend this film to anyone who likes a bit of fun, adventure, romance or any combination of the three.
Rating:
Summary: Lovely Film
Review: Wow. It's been a while since I've seen this film, but it was a pleasant and well done.
Rating:
Summary: one of my all-time favorites
Review: I've said in other reviews i've done, Drew Barrymore is my all-time favorite actress. She portrays a sweetness and honesty to her characters. She does great in Romantic movies and this is my favorite romance movie she's done even though I also love Mad Love, The Wedding Singer, and Never Been Kissed. This is my all-time favorite version of Cinderella I think it's one of the few times where a different version than the original was 10 times better. My fasination with the story of Cinderella really started with this there is so much they did that made the movie better than the original did not. Drew Barrymore plays Danielle Debaberake (sp?) AKA Cinderella. Her mother died when she was a baby and for 8 years it was just her loving father and her. That is until he remarried and suddenly Danielle is left to get used to having a stepmother and two stepsisters around her age. Well 5 min. within the movie her her father dies and her stepmother makes her a servant and constantly verbally abuses her. When Cinderella is 18 is when Drew comes into the picture and she plays a very independent wise spunky and beautiful Cinderella. Anjelica Houston is priceless as the wicked stepmother and adds so much to the sterotype character. Anjelica while playing a mean and self-centered stepmother also adds a tiny touch of tenderness and feelings to the character the main scene you can see this is when Danielle is brushing her hair and the stepmother talks to her. Anjelica is such a classy graceful actress and I can't imagine anyone playing the stepmother better. She is almost worth watching this movie by herself. Dougory Scott plays the prince of france Henry he is very easy on the eyes and is believeable as a prince. The prince is unintentionaly arrogant and at the first of the movie comes off as a little jerky. But that all changes when he meets Danielle. Her stepmother sold one of her fathers long-time servants to the americas when she couldn't pay her taxes and Danielle puts on a nice dress and does her hair and pretends to be part of the court in order to get him released. This is where she meets the prince who is automaticaly and obviously smitten and dumbfounded by her spirit and the fact she's the only "courteer" that has told him like it is and hasn't sucked up to him. Watching the two bump heads at their first few meetings as he at first always comes off jerky to her but the two are still smitten with each other is quite amusing to watch. Her stepsister Margeritte (sp?) is blonde beautiful and bitc*y. She is constantly favored and spoiled by her mother and has her eyes on the prince simply because he's a prince. She ridiculously flirts with him everytime they are together and despite her great amount of effort it's obvious to the viewer that she'll never match up to Danielle. Margerette and her mother is still willing to "take care" of any competition that comes along and spends most of the movie scheming on how to get the princes affections. I love how they made one of the stepsister's nice. Jacalenne is Danielles other stepsister who is actually very sweet softspoken and sympathetic to cinderella but at the sametime wants to please her mother. She is also verbally abused by her mother and is only a level up from Danielle in her mother's point of view. Even her dress is only a slight fancier than Danielle's. Every scene she's in she brings sweetness and innocence. Also unlike the original, the prince and Danielle met long before the "ball" and so they already built affection before then. When she opens up her heart to "Henry" she starts standing up to her stepmother and to Margerette. When I first saw this, this made the movie for me. I myself am a very fiesty "no crap" woman and I found myself getting totally frustrated when someone is mistreated and they just stand there and take it. I kept saying "IF THAT WAS ME I WOULD OF TOLD THEM WHERE TO GO" so when she starts mouthing off back to them I thought "you go girl it's about damn time" one of the most satisfying scenes is when she socks Margerette in the eye. I found myself wishing she could of gotten in a couple more hits because like I said throughout the movie Margerette is a complete bit**. This movie is funny, touching, romantic, dramatic, and just overall entertaining. Everyone in this movie holds their place and whoever cast this movie knows what they are doing cause I can't imagine anyone of these roles being played by anyone else better. This is a great movie for anyone but I do think girls will appreciate it more because of all the romance and the "independent woman" vibe cinderella holds.
Rating:
Summary: Ever After is the best!
Review: I saw this movie on TV and loved it! So, I bought the DVD. It is such a funny movie! It shows the realistic side to "the Cinderella Story." No magic or fairy God mothers, but there are evil step sisters and mother! It is so funny and so romantic! I really thought it was a great and funny movie! This movie is great for most girls. (i feel)
| 
