'Enchanted' in Phuket

Any young lady who's ever dreamed about being transformed into a princess and meeting her Prince Charming could find her fantasies coming true thanks to a very special treat being offered by Thailand's fastest growing slimming centre.

The aptly named Slim Up Centre is celebrating the opening of Disney's comedy-fantasy "Enchanted" today by launching "Enchanted Beauty & Firm" - a three-day, two-night activity that will see 20 girls head to the Mercure Patong Beach Hotel in Phuket from March 22 to 24 for a range of slimming and beauty treatments.

Model Ornapha "Mar" Krisadee will also be whisking out her cosmetic bag of tricks and giving the lucky winners a complete makeover. And all that will be topped off with a great time with a real-life Prince Charming, today's hottest actor Thrisadee "Por" Sahawong.

To qualify for the activity, all you have to do is buy two tickets to the movie. In return, you'll receive a coupon, which you can then drop into a box at the theatre. Twenty names will be randomly selected and announced on March 3 on the theatre's signboard, as well as at Disney.co.th, SFCinemaCity.com, and SlimUp-Center.com. The deadline for entries is February 10. This promotion is being exclusively offered at all Bangkok branches of SF Cinema City. For more information, visit one of the three websites.

"Enchanted" is a combination of live action and traditional animation and focuses on Giselle (Amy Adams) who lives in the blissful cartoon world of Andalasia and looks for her Prince Charming with the help of her chipmunk friend Pip and other forest animals.

She sings about her true love's kiss, and Prince Edward (James Marsden) hears her voice in the forest. Giselle and Edward are going to be married the next day but his stepmother, Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon) banishes her to the unforgiving metropolis of New York City in order to keep her stepson single and thus remain queen.

In New York, Giselle is rescued by divorce lawyer Robert Philip (Patrick Dempsey), who doesn't believe in Giselle's gushings of happily-ever-after and true love's first kiss and sends her away after Nancy (Idina Menzel), his soon-to-be-fiancee, walks in on them.

While there's a fairy-tale quality to the story, some comparisons can be made with real life. For example, like Giselle, many couples imagine that love lasts forever, which it rarely does and, as with the wicked Narissa, parental interests all too often influence the outcome of relationships in Thai society.

But it's a fun movie, with plenty of references to past Disney works, among them "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", "The Little Mermaid" and "Cinderella" and great songs from accomplished songwriters and Broadway composers Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. Of these, the most outstanding is "True Love's Kiss" on which Giselle duets with Prince Edward, "Happy Working Song" and "That's How You Know".

The media-studded movie preview was held at SF Cinema City of Central World last Wednesday at which it was announced that Sawitree "Fluke" Sarowat was the winner of last month's "SF-Slim Up Enchanted Princess in You" campaign.

Kitchana

Lersakvanitchakul

The Nation