Jack (Steven Tylor O’Connor) is unlucky in love and disappointed with his life. His sister Jill (Kelly Blunt) is attending the Senior Prom with Prince Charming (Sam Snyder), and Jack has no one to go with (though he would be just as happy with Prince Charming as his sister is). All is not lost, however, as Jack’s drag queen fairy god mother (Sherry Vine) appears to turn things around. Will Jack find love and happiness at the Prom? A Fairy Tale offers an optimistic, cutesy perspective.
Filmmaker Steven Tylor O’Connor gives himself quite a bit to do, writing, directing and starring in A Fairy Tale. The ideas are there, and the fairy tale-centric jokes about other denizens of the fairy tale world, such as the new foreign students Hansel and Gretel, elicit some giggles. Beyond that, the film goes for sensitive and cute and stays there, with the only real ribaldry coming from the fairy god mother.
My main problem with A Fairy Tale is that it just doesn’t go far enough. Sure, the look of the film is appropriately colorful and playful, but when you use the concept of the characters within the film being well-known fairy tale characters, I want more to them than just some exposition and the use of their names. I’m not saying this needs to be the gay Shrek, but dammit if it wouldn’t have been awesome if it were the gay Shrek!
As it is, the film is cute, but not much else. It doesn’t look particularly good (there is some quality set design, the camera is good enough, but the composition within the frame leaves a bit to be desired), and doesn’t have too much going for it other than the wink winks of the dialogue. Which, again, it’s all cute and the story is cheerful… but it isn’t all that memorable.
There are ideas contained in the film that could’ve been expanded upon; there is so much playground to work with when dealing with fairy tales. I wanted the film to really make good on that creative potential. As it is, it’s just cute, without too much else.
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