Pretty Witchy Woman

Just in case you are wondering, the Julia Roberts trademark laugh makes an appearance in "Mirror Mirror." Ms. Roberts is great here - the Grand Dame of all the proceedings, wearing the beautiful, intricately decorated costumes of Eiko Ishioka (who also did the costumes for the Spiderman musical) She's all dressed up with nowhere to go though, and more importantly, no one to play with. We all know Snow's story, but here that story is given a harder-edged which clashes with the ironic costumes (Snow White at the bowl wears a variation of Bjork's swan dress)  And Lily Collins isn't a fair princess. She seems bored by the whole proceedings, and I really really wanted to take her to my threading lady because I despised her caterpillar eyebrows. Armie Hammer, as Prince Charming, isn't charming at all. In fact, the prince here is portrayed as a loser, so tell me, why should the audience root for them to have a happily ever after? Even Nathan Lane is restrained. I mean, if they were going to go for the jugular, they should have let these actors have fun. Only Julia is set free, and she looks frustrated that no one is playing along with her. Director Tarsem Singh has always been more concerned with the visuals in his films, and visually, this film is a treat (you never know where to look) but more often than not, the beautifully decorated room is empty.