‘Ever After’: More a Frog Than Prince : The Cinderella retelling lacks fairy-tale romance.

In “Ever After,” a fanciful remake of “Cinderella,” Drew Barrymore plays Danielle, a spunky, can-do young woman. Dougray Scott is the charming prince, and Anjelica Huston creates trouble as the evil stepmother. Rated PG-13.

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Becky Sparks had been waiting for “Ever After” since she saw a trailer several weeks ago. Drew Barrymore, the star, is one of Becky’s favorite actresses (“I just loved her in ‘The Wedding Singer’!”), and romances are always at the top of her list.

Everything looked good when Becky entered a screening recently in Mission Viejo. But after, all Becky could do was shrug and say the film was a major disappointment, a feeling shared my many kids.

“It wasn’t as good as [the trailer] looked like,” said the Laguna Niguel 10-year-old. “There were some OK scenes, [but] most of it was just boring and not that great.”

Becky explained that the romance between Danielle (Barrymore) and the prince (Dougray Scott) didn’t generate the fire she’d hoped for. The couple seemed to go for each other, but there wasn’t enough passion, she said, especially considering that the picture is based on the classic “Cinderella.”

“They weren’t, like, crazy together like I’d like them to be,” she said.

Maria Lorente, 9, of Mission Viejo appreciated “Ever After” more than Becky, but she felt that the central relationship didn’t deliver. However, Maria did find Barrymore’s character attractive, mainly because she’s headstrong and able to take care of herself.

This Cinderella isn’t passive. She wants to meet the prince, so she beans him with an apple. And she’s also not nervous about speaking up, throwing out opinions on everything from philosophy to male arrogance.

“She wasn’t scared of anything, [and] that made me feel good,” Maria said.

Bruce Greenwood didn’t see much in “Ever After.” The Mission Viejo 12-year-old thought the movie’s jokey style was lame, and there wasn’t enough action to hold his interest. At more than two hours, it was too long.

“I don’t know why I went to it,” he said. “It just went on and on and was really dumb.”

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PARENTS’ PERSPECTIVE: Terri Horner of Laguna Beach said her daughters, 8 and 13, enjoyed “Ever After” well enough. Although she said she was bored, Horner nonetheless felt it was appropriate for most families because there’s little violence and no adult situations.

“It was pretty easy to swallow, but there was one thing,” Horner said. “A few of [the characters] curse a lot. . . . I’m not sure you want your kids hearing that.”