Snow White: The Fairest of Them All (2001) Reviews

Shown theatrically in Europe and the Middle East in 2001, this live-action version of the classic fairy tale "Snow White" often bids fair to be the grimmest of all Grimm Brothers adaptations. When his wife Josephine (Vera Farmiga) dies in childbirth, hapless woodsman John (Tom Irwin) and his newborn daughter Snow White embark upon a journey which ultimately finds them hopelessly lost in the snowy wastes. Praying for a miracle, John is visited by a seemingly benign spirit called "The Green-Eyed One" (Clancy Brown), who offers to grant John three wishes: Nourishment, a kingdom, and a queen for a wife. Little does "King" John suspect that the Green-Eyed One is actually an emissary for Satan, and that his queenly new wife Elspeth (Miranda Richardson) is the Green-Eyed One's equally evil daughter. The familiar "Snow White" plot takes off from here, complete with Queen Elspeth's efforts to kill the "fair" Snow White (now grown up and played by Kristin Kreuk), her rescue at the hands of seven "little men"--each one a different rainbow color, each one named for a different day of the week--and of course, the last-act arrival of the Handsome Prince, here named Alfred (Tyron Leitso). Balancing its more frightening aspects with slapstick comedy and awesome special effects, the film debuted on American television as Snow White: The Fairest of Them All, and was first broadcast March 17 2002 as an episode of ABC's The Wonderful World of Disney. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi