MPAA Rated – PG-13
It’s 1:40 Long
A Review by:
– The Dude on the Right
| Bewitched Movie Stats & Links |
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| 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 |
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!!!