The movie begins with the Queen of France, who has requested the audience of the Brothers Grimm, in regards to their "telling" of the Cinderella story. She produces a glass encrusted slipper as proof of her tale, and begins to relate the "true" version of what happened.

Danielle, (Barrymore) a headstrong tomboy who is loved dearly by her father, is left alone with her uncaring stepmother (Huston) and her two daughters. After beaning the Prince in the head with an apple for stealing one of her horses, the two seem to meet constantly after, and consequently, fall in love. With a little help from not a fairy Godmother, but a renaissance artist- Leonardo Da Vinci, to be exact, the two learn to get past class and social standing in order to follow the call of true love.

But enough of the mush. All this would be simple enough, the prince finds his soul mate, and after a little misunderstanding they live happily ever after. It's too simple. What you need to make this story worthwhile is a villain. An evildoer who will stop at nothing to get his way. Luckily, Richard O'Brien fits the mold perfectly, playing the "lascivious" villain Pierre Le Pieu who will stop at nothing until Danielle is at his side.

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Yes, but it is worth seeing?

The movie seemed to drag a bit to me, alot of details and odds and ends that were added that really didn't need to be there, but if you were able to sit through Spice World to catch a glimpse of the Master, this one will be a piece of cake.

And for those of you who really would rather not see anything but the Richard scenes, (maybe you have an aversion to Drew Barrymore- who knows) they are in the last half-hour to 45 minutes of the movie. (So get your popcorn early on)

I think that was a mistake as well. We met Danielle, her sisters and stepmother, learned they were wenches (which you would have already guessed) and then she meets the Prince, they hit it off, and after a while comes Pierre to weasel his way into Danielle's life. But it seems to me that we should have seen him before, so that we could know the full story of what's going on in her life, and why the Prince (besides the obvious reasons of him BEING the prince and good-looking) is such an attractive option.

Not that I would agree with that option, but this is the movies, and unfortunately, unless his character has a sister, Richard never gets the girl.

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That Stupid Girl!

Pierre strikes a deal with Rodmilla. All of their belongings that have gone missing during the course of the film, it turns out, were in fact sold to Pierre. In order to get them back, Rodmilla proposes that she trade them in for Danielle. Danielle being Pierre's purpose anyway, he agrees.

So there she is, in irons, in Pierre's castle. Had this been me in this movie, it would have ended here. No, I take that back. It would have ended in the marketplace when Pierre comments on being well-endowed.

But good little Danielle, she prefers the Prince.  So when she is taken to Pierre's castle, she's not a happy camper. He tries to get her to agree to his wishes (she's an idiot!) and she of course, says no. So as he creeps up behind her and tells her about his horse that was just like her . . . "It too just needed to be- broken"

How anyone in their right mind could resist THAT offer is beyond me. But she reaches behind him, takes his dagger and proceeds to slash his cheek, grab another sword and hold it to his chin until he gives her the key to her bonds and her freedom. Now as much as I think that Danielle should have just said "yes", Pierre was sort of dumb here. The scene takes place in an armory sort of room. What dumb captor lets his captive- with their hands free- near a plethora of weapons?

Alas.

 

While browsing through the Internet Movie Database, I came across the following user-submitted review:

Mr.Movie-2

South Florida

Date: 9 September 1998

Summary: The biggest surprise of the summer! After seeing the trailer for “Ever After”, I was anxious   to see the film because it appeared to be an original, adult retelling of the familiar fairytale that would appeal to a wide variety of moviegoers. When I finished watching this wonderful film, I thought that I had seen one of the best movies released this summer! And because I work in a theater, I have been able to confirm my notion that audiences of all ages (from pre-teen females to elderly couples) would enjoy this film. Drew Barrymore is tremendously appealing in the lead role, Dougray Scott is a refreshing new face that I am anxious to see again in other roles, and Anjelica Huston was terrific as the stepmother, not entirely wicked, but certainly faithful to the tale. The interesting twists concerning the stepsisters and the “fairy godmother” are just two more innovations that enhanced the appeal and character of “Ever After”. And let us not forget about Pierre LePeu (sic) as realized by Richard O’Brien, perhaps one of the most reprehensible characters I have ever seen in a conventional character-driven motion picture. I intend to add this film to my video collection as soon as it is available despite having seen it many times on the big screen. "Ever After" is, in my opinion, the most surprisingly satisfying moviegoing experience of the 1998 summer season.