For the confused or driftless 13-year-old girl in today’s world, there is no shortage of strong-willed, daffy and infinitely likable role models to emulate. Teenage stars such as Hilary Duff, Amanda Bynes and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen can be found gracing the silver screen, television sets and magazine covers or anyplace else there is room to place their mug.

A slightly less visible starlet, but equally steeped in the territory, is Anne Hathaway, who won over hearts as the ugly duckling-turned-princess of 2001’s The Princess Diaries. She treads a similar path in another literary adaptation, Ella Enchanted, a charming and subversive fable based on Gail Carson Levine’s novel of the same name.

Directed by Tommy O’Haver, who also worked on the quirky, enjoyable, but rather insubstantial romantic comedies Get Over It and Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss, Ella Enchanted floats along in a Shrek-like world of skewed fairy tales, a backlash against the stereotypes and archetypes inhabiting the pages of the Grimms’ fairy tales and the white-washed effervescence of Disney’s cartoons.

In the magical kingdom Ella inhabits, all newborns are gifted with a virtue from a fairy godmother. To Ella’s misfortune, she is visited by a hard-drinking, stubborn and imprudent fairy named Lucinda (Vivica A. Fox) who, to stop her crying, gifts her with obedience. Flash forward to her mother’s deathbed, where Ella’s mom (Minnie Driver) tells her to keep her forced obedience a secret.

Soon Ella (Anne Hathaway) grows up. With her big brown eyes and full red lips, she shines with classic movie star looks. She also attends the Frell Community College and takes a stand against the segregationist policies of the Prince Regent Edgar, the story’s meta-villain, played with oily glee by The Princess Bride’s Cary Elwes. Her impoverished-noble father (Patrick Bergin) marries for money to a wretched woman (Joanna Lumley) and her two daughters: the conniving Hattie (Lucy Punch) and the imbecilic Olive (Jennifer Higham). When it turns out that Ella’s stepmom does not have money, her father leaves town to sell watches and Ella is left at the will of her unprincipled stepfamily, which soon discovers her secret and abuses it to Ella’s chagrin.

When Ella is forced to dismiss her best friend (Bend It Like Beckham’s Parminder K. Nagra), she decides that she must overturn her curse by finding her fairy godmother, thus beginning a journey from which the plot derives its steam. Along the way, Ella battles crude ogres, grooves with disco-dancing giants and catches the eye of the soulful stud of a prince, Charmont (Hugh Dancy). Lo and behold, through balls and coronations and screaming swarms of girls after the charming prince, Ella makes it through.

Based on the Cinderella story, Ella tweaks the story, forcing its beleaguered heroine into submission in a world that is only too eager to exploit her. Her natural intelligence and charm, however, are enough to save the day and teach a few important lessons. The script is filled with banter that will keep adults amused. Aiden McArdle as Slannen, the elf who aspires to a law degree, is a good comic foil to the determined Hathaway. And Heidi Klum is, well, large as a giant who improbably falls for the elf. And Eric Idle shows up as yet another guest cameo, as the narrator.

The CGI effects leave something to be desired, but the spellbinding story should be enough to captivate any audience. All things considered, Ella Enchanted is a sly and witty foray into fairyland.