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Bewitched
Movie Stats & Links |
Starring: |
Nicole Kidman,
Will Farrell |
MPAA Rated: |
PG-13 |
Released By: |
Columbia Pictures |
Kiddie Movie: |
It's an adult
story. |
Date Movie: |
It's a romantic
comedy, duh. |
Gratuitous Sex: |
Talk. |
Gratuitous
Violence: |
Ehh. |
Action: |
Nah. |
Laughs: |
Quite a few. |
Memorable
Scene: |
The filming of the
show with all of the characters at the dinner table. |
Memorable
Quote: |
Most of Will
Ferrell's lines. |
Directed By: |
Nora Ephron |
Produced By: |
Lucy Fisher, Penny
Marshall, Douglas Wick |
|
Bewitched
A Movie Review |
|
 |
I know you don’t want to hear this, and yes, I am one of
the most easily amused people out there, but I was mildly
amused at "Bewitched" but thought they really blew it at the
end. Here’s the story…
Will Ferrell is Jack Wyatt. He’s a Hollywood actor who is
too full of himself and just had a couple of big movie
flops. Looking to rebound his career, his assistant dude,
Richie (Jason Schwartzman), convinces him he would be great
in the role of Darren in a remake of "Bewitched" that is
being done. Jack signs on, but much to the dismay of the
shows producers, he insists that whoever is cast as
Samantha, well, she needs to be an unknown. Nicole Kidman is
Isabel. She’s a real witch, looking to stop being a witch,
because she wants to experience life like the rest of us,
not being able to snap her fingers and get anything she
wants.
Well the casting for the new series isn’t going to well,
a lot of times simply that those trying for the role can’t
twitch their nose like the original Samantha. Then, in a
bookstore, Jack spies Isabel, sees her twitch her nose, and
decides she would be the perfect Samantha, especially since
he can make sure to keep all things about him. She thinks
Jack is the real deal, not some Hollywood blow-hard, and
takes the role, but eventually she becomes wise to Jack’s
plans, especially when she pretty much has no lines in the
show, that and her friends convince her just what a tool
Jack is.
But Isabel still sees something in Jack, especially when
Jack is under a spell to treat her like a queen. But Isabel
doesn’t like Jack under a spell, so she reverses it and
gives Jack the lashing he really deserves. Not surprisingly,
especially for a romantic comedy, Jack has a newfound
respect, and love, for Isabel because no one has ever talked
back that way to him before. The next challenge for Isabel –
tell Jack she is really a witch.
Yup, you can guess it, Jack doesn’t take this too well,
but both he and Isabel are now miserable without each other,
blah, blah, blah.
Look, the movie’s a romantic comedy, and like most
romantic comedies, we know how it is going to end. No
surprise here. What was a surprise was the film folks
decided that to get our lovebirds back together, Uncle
Arthur (played by Steve Carell), a character from the
original "Bewitched" television series, needed to show up
and convince Jack he should be with Isabel. This is the
point that I ended up going from kinda liking the movie to
being more disappointed in it. Sure, I got by with the Aunt
Clara showing up, of course Isabel would have a wacky Aunt,
but the Uncle Arthur nod wasn’t needed at all, Steve Carell
just didn’t pull it off either, and my idea would have been
that the weird assistant Robbie should have given Jack a
"What’s so weird about you being in love with a witch?"
speech. I hate to say it, but the Uncle Arthur insertion
dropped this movie from a solid 3 ½ stars to 2 stars out of
5. Will Ferrell was his usually funny self, Nicole was just
adorable, and Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine added some
extra fun. I just felt the "having someone from the original
series save the day" concept ruined the film.
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!!
L8R!!! |