Cinderella

Released:  March 13^th, 2015

Rated:  PG

Distributor:  Walt Disney Studios

Starring:  Lily James, Richard Madden, Cate Blanchett, Stellan Skarsgård, Holliday Grainger, Derek Jacobi, Helena Bonham Carter

Directed by:  Kenneth Branagh

Written by:  Chris Weitz

Personal Bias Alert:  was never into the older Disney princesses, likes most of the cast

7.9 of 10

            It seems that no one (including myself) was very optimistic about this live-action adaptation.  There were valid reasons for this:  a thin story, a shaky director, and a perfectly good preexisting version, to name a few.  I think lots of reviewers plodded into this one pretty unhappy at the prospect of sitting through it, which makes it even more remarkable that it was able to melt nearly every one of our hearts.

            This Cinderella is a faithful adaptation of Disney’s 1950 animated version, sans music, but with all the heart and a delightfully sweet soul.  In case you get your Disney princesses confused like I do, this is the one that does forced labor for her wicked stepmother and gets sent to a ball by her fairy godmother wearing some very fetching glass slippers.  Cinderella in that film is a wet blanket who seemingly never makes a decision for herself and ends up getting rescued because she’s so darn beautiful in that ball gown.  The gender politics were troublesome even by 1950s standards, and this was one of the big things that needed to be fixed if the film was going to be accepted by modern audiences.  But that’s easier said than done, because a strong version of Cinderella would probably just flip the bird and walk out the door as soon as her stepmother stuck her in that kitchen.  Screenwriter Chris Weitz comes up with some nice excuses for her to stay, so even though she’s still not playing a terribly active role in her life, you don’t ever feel like walking onscreen and pushing her out of that house.

            Lily James of Downton Abbey fame portrays the classic character and nails the gentle soul that makes you fall squarely on her side.  Her role, like everyone else’s, isn’t particularly deep, but it’s a tightrope walk between sweet and saccharine, making the difficulty level easy to overlook.  Richard Madden (Robb Stark from Game of Thrones) manages to navigate the tightrope along with her as the Prince, and he has to pull off some pretty awkward pants while doing it.  That these two do everything right, especially getting that their romance can’t have an ounce of sexuality, helped keep the whole film in the kind of magical romance that’s kept Cinderella selling for all these years.

            The rest of the actors prance through the scenes, getting to play their one-note characters with verve.  None of them go so far as to stick out, but director Kenneth Branagh didn’t get them all to land on a consistent level of campy fun.  What Branagh does bring to the mix is a lush eye for art direction, which makes the whole fairytale world pop.  How he managed to make this world so enhanced from our own, with bright colors, big dresses, and vigorous plants populating the screen without it seeming like overkill is almost magical.  And that ball gown.  Watching Cinderella dance in that gown is a special moment, even for those of us who don’t normally care about such things.

            This version is significantly longer at 112 minutes than the animated feature, and even with these additions the story still feels very light.  They largely succeed at making that seem charming, but the first few scenes of setup are noticeably clunky before it settles into its frothy flow.  Like all of this film’s flaws, its quickly forgotten and is more a fault of the preexisting story than this film’s execution.  The reality is that any adaptation of this story is going to have its drawbacks, and it’s hard to imagine anyone getting it more right than Branagh and company did here.

Other Notes:

Ø  This film gets big props for not being overly cutesy. 

Ø  Some of the special effects are lacking and look a bit rubbery.  None of it is too bad until the very last shot, which is dreadful.

Ø  Why does Cinderella have every kind of mother except her actual mother?