First of all, it kicked box office ass grossing over $40million on its opening weekend. Hey, the kids were out of school. The turkey was stuffed and eaten. Gramps was snoring with Dad in front of the game. Everyone else snuck out before the dishes had to be done and hit the multiplex!

See, the thing is other movies didn't fare as well on that holiday weekend. Do you wanna know why? No. It isn't because it was D-I-S-N-E-Y...Y, because we want your money! Well, that might have been part of it, but the real reason it hit it so big is...IT'S A NEW YORK CITY HOLIDAY MOVIE! Yes, Patrick Dempsey (know better known to TV viewers as "McDreamy") is a handsome hunk and Amy Adams is just about the cutest redhead in years, but there is something about Central Park and the bustle of Times Square. It just made it work on a higher level! Can you imagine the story having the same bite if it took place in Pittsburgh, or Weehawkin, or San Antonio or Laguna Beach (where all those spoiled teenagers live) unless you happen to be from there and miss being home for the holidays? NYC is the perfect place to come up out of a sewer after a magical drop down a well...through a sparkle kind of black hole, cosmic Milky Way sort of swirling thing.

I was smitten by the set up and fell prey to the maudlin emotional subtext. I found to my shock I was enjoying myself...WITH reservations. They are as follows:

Reservation 1: I couldn't help but cringe when I realized Susan Sarandon's face was the model for the evil stepmother/queen/witch cartoon. The voice and the face were a match! I didn't buy the performance. She's too mushy. Her whiney vocal performance and pop-eyed stare didn't strike me as great casting. To be fair, as the old crone covered in deep latex I was less disenchanted (I know. I know. I apologize again.) with having to watch her.

Reservation 2: Talk about tough to watch...

imagine my shock at not recognizing Wicked's Idina Menzel due to her looking like a recovering anorexic.

Reservation 3:  When Robert (Patrick) opens to door to see Giselle (Amy) in the shower, her vermin and avian friends wrap a towel around her naked body. Now it just might be that I am a man...an adult man, but I couldn't help but wonder why she didn't freak out when first she realized she was an anatomically correct, fully mature woman...with um...boobs and a pubic region. I mean, it can be traumatic when a young girl reaches the moment of, well, pubescence. Which leads me to ...

Reservation 4:  Was she from the Fritz The Kat school of cartooning in which the characters were sexually active? Drawn, shall we say, unlike Barbie, Ken and GI Joe - with fully functioning genitalia?

Reservation 5: How the hell did she know she needed a shower? She was a dirty cartoon character! It would have made more sense if she asked McDreamy for a big eraser!

Alright, maybe I am nitpicking, but I have questions and I want answers.

There were some spectacular moments not having anything to do with the plot. I was hysterical for the entire clean up of the apartment.

What a terrific send-up of everything from Snow White to Cinderella.