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John Robotham,
Max Daniels,
Darrell Davis,
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Nora Ephron
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: Columbia TriStar
: Comedies, Romantic Comedy, Fantasy
: 102 min.
: English, French
: English, French
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Nora Ephron directed and co-wrote this updated adaptation of a classic situation comedy that also casts a satirical eye on the entertainment industry. Jack Wyatt (Will Ferrell) is a movie star whose career has been going into a slow and steady decline. Desperate for a project that will give his reputation a jump start, Jack agrees to star in a film version of the once-popular television series Bewitched as hapless hubby Darrin Stephens, under the condition that an unknown actress be cast as the female lead so he won't be upstaged. After auditioning dozens of women who fail to make the grade, Jack meets lovely and charming Isabel Bigelow (Nicole Kidman), and is immediately certain she's the perfect choice to play witch-turned-housewife Samantha. However, there's one thing neither Jack nor the producers of the film know -- Isabel really is a witch, and while she's been trying to get along without her powers to better fit in among mortals, she will use her special talents when need be. The film also stars Michael Caine as Isabel's father, Nigel, Shirley MacLaine as Iris Smythson (the actress hired to play Endora), and Jason Schwartzman as Jack's agent. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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| Check your expectations
by thingstodo
November 15, 2006 - 4:46 PM PST
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First of all, you should view at least a couple of episodes of the original TV series with Elizabeth Montgomery. This show has never been about anything of depth; it's a 30-minute fluffy entertainment piece. Everyone is a caricature, with the possibly exception of Samantha, living in that squeaky clean Leave-it-to-Beaver world that never was.
As its predecessor, everyone here is blissfully idealistic and/or one-dimensional. The star is Nicole Kidman as a witch bored with having everything going her way and decides to turn off the safety of her magical powers and try to live like a regular mortal. Yeah. I sometimes feel that way, too.
There are some variations on the original. Most notably is the location and time of the story. Although the characters in this movie mirror somewhat those from the TV series, the characters are fully awared of the TV series since the movie is about doing a remake of the series. So I was a bit curious at how naive and oblivious Isabel (Nicole Kidman's character) was about the world around her. I remember Samantha being a pretty sharp lady on top of being a witch. Isabel acts more like Nell than Samantha here.
Some movies set out to reinvent the story from which its title is based on. Some are just more of the same. This one is of the latter. Fans of the TV series will get a kick out seeing how things change to stay the same. |
| Mediocre Drivel
by talltale
October 29, 2005 - 5:00 AM PDT
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2 out of 2 members found this review helpful
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| When film historians look back for some precise time at which moviegoers stopped going out to the movies and even bothering to watch them on video, BEWITCHED may well be seen as the beginning of the end. It is THE supreme pointless motion picture: ordinary at its best (often much worse than that) and sloppily thought-out, written and directed (the actors don't stand a chance) by people who didn't care a fig for anything more than making a bundle. All of them--writers, director, producers--deserve each other and this utter mediocrity of a movie. Good-bye and good riddance. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 3.98)
50 Votes
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