Ella Enchanted (Anne Hathaway)

(Amazon UK link)

It’s over a decade since we first saw - and liked - the DVD of ‘Ella enchanted’. I remembered that it was based, fairly loosely, on the classic story of Cinderella, but that was about all. We thought it would make a pleasant, undemanding (and not too long) film to watch.

Anne Hathaway stars as Ella, and she is perfect for the role. She’s feisty, athletic, and has excellent comic timing. She can also be very romantic. But the film doesn’t open with a grown-up Ella. It starts with a scene that could almost have been from Sleeping Beauty rather than Cinderella. Baby Ella is adored by her parents, and by the not-very-competent household fairy Mandy (Minnie Driver). 

Then with a magical swirl, Lucinda arrives. Ella’s mother doesn’t quite manage to hide the baby, although she would like to, because Lucinda is reputed to give unhelpful gifts. Not that she’s a bad or evil fairy - but her gifts tend to backfire. And she becomes offended if anyone asks her to take them back. She decides to give Ella the gift of obedience. She assures the household that this will make her a very easy baby…

The Princess Diaries 2 (Anne Hathaway)

(Amazon UK link)

Towards the end of July, we rewatched the 2001 film ‘The Princess Diaries’, and liked it very much. So last night, wanting something light, we decided to rewatch the 2004 sequel, ‘The princess diaries 2: royal engagement’. We last saw it in 2014, and had only vague memories of the story.

This film starts as Mia (perfectly portrayed by Anne Hathaway) graduates from university. And then, accompanied by the security guard Joe (Hector Elizondo), she flies back to Genovia. As well as studying academically, Mia has been trained to take over as queen, as her grandmother Clarisse (Julie Andrews) wants to retire. 

Genovia is a small, loyal (and imaginary) country. It’s supposedly another European microstate, and royalty is very important, with all the pomp of parades. Mia had been reluctant at first, but now she is looking forward to her coronation. However, she discovers a law that states that she can’t be queen unless she’s married. And she has just one month to find someone…

The Princess Diaries (Anne Hathaway)

(Amazon UK link)

We watched the 2001 film  ‘The Princess Diaries’ back in 2009, and liked it very much. It’s a film for the whole family, made by Disney, so it’s quite light-hearted. We wanted something light, so thought it was time for a re-watch. 

Anne Hathaway stars as the awkward teenager Mia Thermopolis. Apparently this was the first film that shot the actress to stardom, although she was only about eighteen when it was made. She makes an excellent fifteen-year-old who has wild, frizzy hair and doesn’t really fit in with her classmates. Her mother (Caroline Goodall) is a bohemian artist who makes very strange creations, and they live in a converted fire station. 

Mia does have a good friend, the equally awkward and odd-looking Lily (Heather Matarazzo). Neither of them particularly enjoys school, and Mia particularly dislikes public speaking, and is very bad at team sports. She’s quite a klutz, too; but she mostly ignores teasing and rudeness from her peers.

In a move reminiscent of both Cinderella and Harry Potter, Mia receives an unexpected summons to tea from her grandmother. She knows that her late father’s mother lives in a small European nation called Genovia, but she has never met her. She doesn’t much want to meet her, but her mother persuades her to go. And when Mia arrives at the largest, poshest house she has ever been in she is given information so startling that she doesn’t really take it in at first. 

Julie Andrews is perfect for her role as Mia’s Genovian grandmother Clarisse, living a life about as far removed as possible from the one Mia has always known. There’s a lot of tension at first, as Clarisse and her employees try to instil some deportment and table manners into Mia, rather to her disgust. I particularly appreciated her friendship and rapport with the man who becomes her chauffeur for a while, known as Joe (Hector Elizondo). 

It’s extremely well done. Anne Hathaway is excellent as Mia, even if her inevitable transformation seems a bit over-dramatic to be believable. But she manages both sides of her appearance with style. There’s some low-key humour in the film, partly involved in Mia’s mother’s bizarre art, but there are also some quite poignant and moving moments. 

It’s a teenage film primarily, so there is some love interest and a fair amount of kissing (though nothing more). And there’s some loud music and dancing, and much that shows the shallowness of many high school students. At the same time, there are some difficult choices that have to be made. Popularity or loyalty? Safety or adventure? Friendship or romance? 

I loved the chemistry between Mia and her mother, and also between Mia and her grandmother. And I thought the pace was perfect. I was totally engrossed, and surprised to learn that the film is almost two hours long. It felt like a much shorter movie. 

Our DVD has some extras; we watched a documentary about the way the cast and crew had a lot of fun together as well as working hard, and some of the reasons for the cast choices. We also watched some interesting deleted scenes, introduced and explained by the director, Garry Marshall. 

Definitely recommended for older children, teens, or adults like us who like slightly schmaltzy, clean and light-hearted films with great acting and a positive ending.

Review copyright 2025 Sue's DVD Reviews

Becoming Jane (Anne Hathaway)

(Amazon UK link)

From time to time I check my recommendations on Amazon UK, and read reviews of the ones that look interesting. ‘Becoming Jane’ was one of these recommendations, probably based on the fact that I have enjoyed several of the Jane Austen film adaptations. Or possibly because I have liked other films featuring Anne Hathaway.

So, as the reviews were mostly positive, I added the film to my wish list and was given it for my birthday last year. We finally decided to watch it last night, aware that it was a fictionalised story of part of Jane Austen’s life. I knew very little about her life, other than that her father was a minister, and that she didn’t marry. So I didn’t have any preconceived ideas about the film.

The opening sequence was very well done, I thought. Jane is played by Anne Hathaway, with such a flawless British accent that I entirely forgot she was American until we watched one of the extras afterwards. We see her writing - with a quill pen, ideas flowing - and then she decides to play the piano. It’s early in the morning and not only wakes the household but startles one of the household staff significantly.

Jane’s sister Cassandra (Anna Maxwell Martin) is engaged, to a young man who is about to go off to sea. Jane’s mother (Julie Walters) really wants Jane to find someone suitable too. Jane has two admirers: one who is well off, respectable and well-connected, but she does not care for him. The other is dependent on his uncle, and rather wild. Their first meetings are full of conflict, but they quickly fall in love.

I thought the film was very well done, although at first I had a hard time remembering who was whom. Anne Hathaway makes a believable young Jane - aged about twenty - with a great imagination and far more independence and spirit than was normal for girls of her era. James McAvoy is excellent, too, as the young - but not very responsible - lawyer Tom Lefroy, and the chemistry between the two is excellent.

Maggie Smith has a small role as Lady Gresham, aunt to the other young man who aspires to Jane’s hand. And, as we have come to expect with Maggie Smith, she has some wonderful lines; her timing is impeccable.

Indeed, all the characters are believable and mostly distinct in character, and we were quickly drawn into the story. While it’s only loosely based on what’s known about Jane Austen’s life, it feels authentic, and entirely possible. It becomes clear that Jane has already written the book that would eventually be published as ‘Sense and Sensibility’, basing her two main characters on herself and her sister Cassandra. During the course of the film, she starts to write some of the material for what will become Pride and Prejudice. It's based partly on her experiences and also the people she interacts with.

The only parts of the film I disliked are a few scenes at boxing matches. They weren’t too gory, but anything of that nature makes me close my eyes and hope it passes quickly. I was a little surprised to find that the rating of the film is only PG. While there’s no bad language other than one or two mild words, and the only nudity is a few seconds of rear views of young men about to swim, the violent scenes are quite intense, and there is more than one overt hint of marital intimacies.

However, overall we thought it an extremely well-made film.

There are some extras which we watched afterwards related to the making of the film. Although they added a bit of background, and I always find this kind of thing interesting, they weren’t anything special.

Review copyright 2019 Sue's DVD Reviews

The Intern (Robert de Niro, Anne Hathaway)

(Amazon UK link)

My husband saw this film - or part of it - on a flight, and liked it so much that he put it on his wish-list. He received it a while ago as a gift, and we finally sat down to watch it. I wasn’t particularly inspired by the blurb on the back, explaining that a retired man got a job as an intern. But it turned out to be an excellent film and I’m glad I was persuaded to see it. 

70-year-old Ben is the star of this film. Robert de Niro is perfect for the role, as an understated, likeable and hard-working guy. Ben has recently been widowed, and is finding time rather drags in his retirement. He is somewhat old-fashioned, and likes to have a routine for each day, but he misses the buzz of being at work. So when he sees an advert for a ‘senior’ aged intern at a clothes company, he decides to apply.

The first scenes are cleverly done. We learn a great deal about Ben as he prepares his resume - on video camera, not on paper. Unsurprisingly he is accepted for the job, and is put to work with the work-obsessed Jules Oston, the founder of the company. It’s an ideal part for Anne Hathaway, featuring a young, idealistic and driven woman who has quite a heart hidden beneath her high-flying exterior.

The story is character-based, with Ben as catalyst for a lot of changes to different people. He is a secure, confident person who is good at spotting when things need to be done. Perhaps he’s a tad too good to be true, but it didn’t matter. I found myself warming to him more and more. I couldn’t quite forget that Jules was Anne Hathaway; she does the ‘gradually transformed strong young woman’ role very well, but it would be nice to see her in something different. However, I can’t think of anyone who would have been more suited to the role of Jules.

There’s a surprising amount of humour in the film, some of it rather suggestive. The PG-13 or 12A rating is appropriate, although younger children would probably miss most of it; there’s nothing explicit. There's no violence either, though there's some mild (and very well done) slapstick. I particularly enjoyed the excellently choreographed burglary scene later in the story.

The scenery is excellent, the houses different in their layouts, but all welcoming and pleasant to the eye. One of the extras explains that the set designer and director were very picky about this kind of thing - and it certainly works well. There’s minimal bad language, no nudity, no violence… and a satisfying ending in all respects.

Thoroughly enjoyable to watch, and one that I expect to see more than once.

Review copyright 2017 Sue's DVD Reviews

The Devil Wears Prada (Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway)

(Amazon UK link)

Although I’ve seen this film recommended to me several times, probably because I enjoy Meryl Streep’s acting so much, it had somehow never appealed. The title is rather off-putting, and the theme, I gathered, was related to high fashion, a topic which does not interest me in the slightest. But when I saw the DVD for a pound at a UK charity shop, in excellent condition, I couldn’t resist.

I’m glad I went ahead and bought ‘The Devil Wears Prada’, because it was a surprisingly enjoyable, if undemanding film. Anne Hathaway co-stars as the somewhat hapless Andrea who wants to be a journalist but manages to walk into a job she knows almost nothing about, working as a personal assistant in an exclusive fashion magazine office.

While Anne Hathaway is great in the role, it reminded me forcibly, more than once, of some of her other roles; in particular as the frumpish princess in the ‘Princess Diaries’, and also as Cinderella in ‘Ella Enchanted’. She’s grown up a bit in this movie, but looked fine to me at the point where the entire staff of the fashion store were laughing at her and calling her ‘fat’. Her eventual transformation is rather inevitable.

Meryl Streep, however, shows, once again, her amazing versatility, in a role unlike anything I have seen her in before. She plays Miranda, the owner of the fashion magazine, a snobbish, bullying and frankly nasty person who seems to care little about anyone other than her spoilt twin daughters.

While much of the fashion discussion left me mystified, the storyline is essentially character-based, charting Andrea’s gradual successes which are only in part due to her make-over, and contrasting them with what - and who - she begins to lose. She has to make a lot of difficult decisions, and I didn’t know how the film would end; it could have gone either way.

I didn’t find the film particularly amusing, although there were some light-hearted parts, and it didn’t need a great deal of thought. But I liked the theme of making conscious choices about careers and relationships, and the way the film clearly shows - without being too overt about it - how easy it can be to become unpleasant, even vicious to one’s colleagues and friends when ambition is too strong.

Overall, it made a pleasant evening’s viewing. Rated 12, presumably for the relatively mild bad language. But as far as I recall there’s no violence, and no overt scenes of intimacy or anything else that would warrant a rating above PG. Not that I would expect it to appeal to children or younger teenagers, particularly.

Review copyright 2016 Sue's DVD Reviews

Ella Enchanted (Anne Hathaway)

(Amazon UK link)

I often like variations on traditional stories, and someone recommended this to me a year or two back. It went on my wishlist and I was given it for Christmas nearly two years ago. It’s taken this long to watch it, but we decided on something light and undemanding for a free evening - and ‘Ella Enchanted’ certainly fit those requirements.

It’s loosely based on the story of Cinderella, with the added twist, Snow White style, of a gift bestowed at birth by a fairy on baby Ella. Lucinda (Vivica A Fox) isn’t exactly a bad fairy, but her gifts are renowned for being rather problematic. And Ella is given the gift of obedience. This isn’t such a bad thing when her only family are loving parents, and a rather bumbling house fairy (Minnie Driver), although she sometimes finds it tedious. But then her mother dies and her father remarries, and her step-sisters soon discover that Ella always does what she’s told to do….

The early part of the story is fairly brief, and Anne Hathaway plays the teenage/young adult Ella. She’s outspoken, and also thinks for herself in a way that’s not expected from young women in this pseudo-Mediaeval era. I say pseudo because although the castles and most of the scenery are from this era, there’s also modern pop music and some far more up-to-date touches which are mostly quite amusing. For instance, the Prince (Hugh Dancy), is plagued with a screaming fan club headed by Ella’s step-sisters.

Since it’s a fairytale setting, other characters include elves, giants and ogres, all of whom (we learn) used to live peacefully alongside the humans. But recently the Prince’s uncle (Cary Elwes) has taken power from his deceased brother, and new rules have been drawn up. The giants are treated as slave labour, the elves required to sing and dance on demand. Life is terrible for an elf wanting a more academic career.

So there’s a lot more than the simple story of Cinders and the Prince. Ella isn’t treated like a servant, at least not in the traditional sense, and she’s far from enamoured of the Prince when she first bumps into him. Her main aim, from her teenage years, is to find Fairy Lucinda and ask her to withdraw her gift - only when that happens does Ella believe she will be free.

We thought it very well-made, on the whole. The elf scenes are a bit silly at times, and the outside scenery not entirely believable. But the ogres are wonderfully nasty and the giants mostly amusing in their love of partying and entertainment. The inevitable romance between the Prince and Ella is fraught with difficulties, even more so when her secret is discovered. There’s some tension and low-key violence and suspense but nothing gory or frightening. The rating is PG and we thought that probably right.

There are a few extras: we watched a documentary about the making of the film, which was quite interesting: it showed how the ogres were made up, and why Anne Hathaway was chosen as Ella. There’s a game of sorts, too, accessible via the remote control - but either we didn’t understand how it worked, or it was remarkably difficult. We didn’t persevere.

All in all, a pleasant evening’s viewing which would be appropriate for the whole family.

Review copyright 2015 Sue's DVD Reviews

The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (Anne Hathaway, Julie Andrews)

(Amazon UK link)

It's five years since we watched (and very much enjoyed) the original Princess Diaries film. So when I saw the sequel in a charity shop, it was an easy decision to buy it. It took us a few months to get around to watching it.

'Princess Diaries 2', subtitled 'Royal Engagement', continues where the first film ended. Princess Mia (Anne Hathaway) is living in Genovia with her grandmother the Queen (Julie Andrews), after deciding that she will accept her inheritance, and become Queen when her grandmother abdicates.

Except that it's not as straightforward as it seems. The Prime Minister reminds parliament that there is a law requiring a Queen to be married. He also mentions another contender for the throne...

So Mia, after ranting about the unfairness of it all, decides to choose an eligible young man and embark on an arranged marriage.

It's light and silly, undoubtedly. But also amusing in places, with great rapport between Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews, who still looks elegant and considerably younger than 70. Mia’s awkwardness, despite her princess lessons, shines through in some cleverly choreographed moments, and there are some interesting scenes about the balance between duty and love.

All in all, we thought this made a worthy sequel and enjoyed it.

There is only the mildest of bad language and innuendoes; the rating U (or G) is about right, but this is unlikely to be of much interest to anyone under the age of about nine or ten.

Note that it is sometimes available in a boxed set with the first 'Princess Diaries' film, sometimes less expensively than buying either of them separately.

Review copyright 2014 Sue's DVD Reviews

The Princess Diaries (Anne Hathaway, Julie Andrews)

(Amazon UK link)

I'm not sure why we acquired the Disney movie 'The Princess Diaries'. Probably it was an Amazon recommendation, or perhaps some friends told us we would enjoy it. It sat for some time on our shelves before we decided to spend an evening watching it.

It's fairly typical and somewhat schmaltzy Disney on a Cinderella theme, but very enjoyable nonetheless. The plot is probably well-known: Mia (Anne Hathaway) is a gauche, somewhat clumsy teenage American girl who tries hard to be invisible at school.

Out of the blue, Mia learns that her paternal grandmother is Queen of a small European country. Since her father (whom she never knew) recently died, Mia is heir apparent to the throne of this country.

She is appalled at first, but agrees to some ‘princess lessons’ and a makeover, and is gradually transformed... whether for better or worse is open to question.

Julie Andrews is perfect as the royal grandmother, and Anne Hathaway as Mia is excellent too. She manages both the awkward clumsy stage and the increasing elegancy of the transformation with panache. There are some delightful scenes with the two of them together; the chemistry between them is excellent despite the age difference. There are even a few low-key ethical issues such as the shallowness of high school cheerleaders and sports stars, and the need for people to stand up for what they believe in.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film, and my husband did too, rather to his surprise. I particularly appreciated seeing the mature Julie Andrews in her excellent role.

There are a few extras on the DVD; we enjoyed the behind-the-scenes shots and descriptions of how the cast gelled together, and how the film was put together.

Review copyright Sue's DVD Reviews