Godmothered

Once upon a time, Disney had the market cornered on wholesome, pure-of-heart fairy tales — films like “Cinderella” and “Sleeping Beauty” featuring fairy godmothers and charming princes. But somewhere along the way, academics and feminists and a new generation of ironically inclined kiddos realized the underlying message of these films wasn’t so magical, teaching young girls to be little more than passive wives. The film begins in The Motherland, the place where all Fairy Godmothers are trained. Eleanor (Jillian Bell) is an enthusiastic trainee who is shocked to find out that Fairy Godmothers are no longer in demand.

Her dreams of becoming a full-fledged Fairy Godmother are in jeopardy due to a lack of missions. Not wanting to retrain as a Tooth Fairy, Eleanor finds a letter from a little girl wanting help in finding her happily ever after. Her plan to show the world that they do need Fairy Godmothers is thwarted when she discovers that Mackenzie (Isla Fisher) who wrote the letter actually sent it decades ago. The adult Mackenzie now raises two daughters on her own works an unrewarding job and stopped believing in fairy tales long ago.

Not willing to give up on her last shot to save The Motherland, Eleanor–with a little help from her magic wand–prepares to show Mackenzie and her daughters (Jillian Shea Spaeder and Willa Skye) a new version of ‘happily ever after’. Stack it up against Enchanted, it’s obvious thematic big sister, and it suffers by comparison. The sets are not as magical, the CGI animals are not as well-rendered, and the story is not as original. For the most part, “Godmothered” is a mixed bag of clever comedy and kid-movie clichés, but director Sharon Maguire (“Bridget Jones’ Baby”) and writers Kari Granlund (2019’s “Lady and the Tramp”) and Melissa Stack (“The Other Woman”) craft an ending that’s so emotionally and intellectually satisfying that it’s easy to forgive the film’s less magical attributes. While it might lack in originality, it more than makes it for it with a talented cast and a unique and highly satisfying ending

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