Ever After

What’s the Story?

Drew Barrymore plays Danielle, according to her great-great-great grand-daughter the real inspiration for the story of Cinderella. Just as in the classic fairy tale, Danielle lives with her mean stepmother and stepsisters, after the death of her beloved father. They force her to do all the work. She meets the prince, goes to the ball wearing glass slippers, and runs away before midnight. But there are some big differences. No pumpkin coach, no fairy godmother, and no bibbity-bobbity-boo. This heroine is not meekly obedient. She stays on because she wants to take care of her home and the people who work there, because it makes her feel close to her father, and because she still hopes that somehow she will find approval from the only mother she has ever known. The stepmother, played by Anjelica Houston in her most evil "The Witches" mode, is not going to give it to her. She tells Danielle that she sees her as a pebble in her shoe. All she cares about is making sure that the prince chooses her elder daughter, Marguerite (Megan Dodd), as his bride. She is willing to lie, cheat, and steal to make it happen. Meanwhile, the Prince (Dougray Scott) is not quite Charming. He appears arrogant, but is really just lonely and aimless. His parents want him to marry the princess of Spain to cement a strategic alliance, but he wants to fall in love. He meets Danielle when she's disguised as a courtier to rescue a family servant sold by her stepmother to pay her debts, and he's very taken by Danielle's passion and intellect. The stepmother finds out about their relationship and does her best to thwart it. When the prince finds out that Danielle is not really of noble birth, he's furious at first. But it all ends happily ever after, even without a fairy godmother (though with a little help from Leonardo da Vinci).

Is It Any Good?

Sumptuously filmed at medieval castles and chateaux, with gorgeous costumes, this is is a pleasure for the eye as well as the spirit. Danielle is a very modern heroine, smart, brave, honest, and able to save her prince as well as herself, if necessary. The script is clever (though wildly anachronistic in places), and while the accents come and go (and why do French characters speak with English accents, anyway?), the performances are excellent, with particularly engaging turns by Melanie Lynskey as the sympathetic younger stepsister and Judy Parfitt as the queen. It is one of the most delightful family movies of the year, maybe of all time.