On Video This March
This excellent reworking of the story of Cinderella is billed as a romance, but it also qualifies as a kind of alternate history. Barrymore is Danielle, daughter of a widowed wealthy farmer who marries the equally-widowed Countess Rodmilla de Ghent, played with vicious glee by Anjelica Houston. When her father dies the day after his return home with his bride and her two daughters, Danielle becomes "Ella of the cinders," forced to do menial labor and wait on her stepmother and stepsisters hand and foot.
Ten years pass, and one day as Danielle is gathering apples she encounters Henry, the crown prince of France. Actually, she nails him with a couple of pippins as he's trying to make off with one of the family's horses. The weight of royalty does not suit Prince Henry, who is trying to avoid both his bodyguard and a marriage to a Spanish princess.
The easy way to handle the rest of the movie would be for the two of them to fall in love at first sight. Fortunately, Tennant and Grant avoid that cliche. Instead, Henry and Danielle actually become friends first, and their deeper feelings develop almost in spite of themselves. The trouble is that Danielle began their relationship with what seemed nothing more than a little white lie at the time, but which threatens to destroy everything when the truth is revealed.
Tennant and Grant have created just the right mix of romance, humor and suspense to prevent this from being just another take on an oft-told tale. Barrymore is a wonderful heroine, strong and honest and loyal and brave. Scott manages to be suitably handsome and noble and proud while maintaining a sense of awkward humanity and vulnerability.
Still, it's Huston who steals the show as the Wicked Stepmother, with an able assist from Dodds as the scheming Marguerite. Although some of Huston's moments threaten to turn into another version of Morticia Addams, she saves them by suddenly pulling back from the very brink of caricature to reveal secret depths that make Rodmilla real, if not likable.
Rating: A great date movie, and a definite must see.
Title: Soldier Director: Paul Anderson Writer: David Webb Peoples Cast: Kurt Russell, Jason Scott Lee, Connie Nielson, Gary Busey, Jason Isaacs
It's the mid-21st Century and the military no longer relies on amateurs. Instead, soldiers are conditioned from birth to follow orders, kill the enemy and accept that the result of failure is death.
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