Bewitched
continues an ongoing trend that has been rampant in Hollywood as of late –unoriginality.
A good 80% of the movies we’ve been seeing in the past few years have been
remakes, updatings, prequels or sequels, meaning tinsel town is running out of
good ideas. Either that, or they don’t want to take chances. I believe it’s
the latter. But really, why would they want to take chances when audiences are
clearly shelling out money for these retreads.
I
don’t want to give the impression that I hate all remakes, updatings, prequels
and sequels. Far from it. Some of them are quite effective (The Brady Bunch, Batman
Begins etc.) but I’ve become increasingly bored by the ones that don’t
seem to have a point (The Honeymooners, Miss Congeniality 2 etc.). Bewitched is
a perfect example of this.
This
updating of the popular show starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York and Dick
Sargent, stars Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell. Rather than capturing the essence
of the old show, the film makers have opted to use a premise that really doesn’t
work at all. In this version, Ferrell plays Jack Wyatt, an egomanical actor who
wants to update Bewitched for television. The major issue that befalls Wyatt and
the studio, is their inability to find the perfect Samantha. One day while out
eating lunch, Wyatt meets Kidman’s Isabel, a lovely woman with no previous
acting experience. What gets her the gig is her ability to do that infamous nose
twinkle. Wyatt immediately takes Isabel to Hollywood, and attempts to land his
potential leading lady the job. What no one is aware of is that Isabel is an actual
witch. And as was the case in the old TV. show, she’s a witch trying to make
a living without using her powers. Of course, Bewitched is also a love story as
the enchanting Isabel begins to fall for the nutty Jack, even though she’s
completely aware that he’s a self centered shmuck.
This
Bewitched is mechanical and convoluted. I give it props for putting a new spin
on things, but am forced to take most of those props away for doing it in such
a boring, labored fashion. Will Ferrell tries his hardest. As usual, he’s
bouncing off the walls with energy here. He does provide the film with most of
it’s laughs - including a hilarious moment in which he appears on the Conan
O’Brien Show a little under dressed for the occasion. Nicole Kidman is gorgeous,
but I just couldn’t get into her. She has the nose twinkle down (a talent
that the film makers excessively beat into the ground), but quite frankly, she
appears a tad bored here. Her sort of sweet but robotic body language recalls
her turn in that awful Stepford Wives remake.
Bewitched
is populated by several veteran actors who do a pretty good job. Michael Caine
has proven that he can make any dialogue sound good, and he proves it again here
as Isabel’s father. Shirley MacLaine is a virtual dead ringer as the actress
assigned to play Endora, Samantha’s mother in the new Bewitched show (a role
originated by Agnes Moorehead). And she has a secret of her own to boot (an extremely
labored one). Steve Carell has a gimmicky but effective walk on cameo as Uncle
Arthur. His Paul Lynde impersonation is spot on.
Bewitched
was written and directed by Nora Ephron (Sleepless in Seattle) and she tries to
bring the same sort of sweet, effervescent vibe that she brought to her collaborations
with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, but ultimately, this movie is such a dull misfire,
none of this really shines through.
Bewitched
isn’t particularly offensive in any way, but it certainly hasn’t much
to offer in terms of humor and charm. It just sort of lumbers along from one scene
to the next. It’s a shame too, because Ephron and crew missed a golden opportunity.
My good friend Terry had a brilliant notion the moment we heard about this film
going into production. His grand suggestion was that the film could offer up two
separate actors playing Darren. Imagine that. At one point in the picture, Nicole
Kidman could have gone to bed with Will Ferrell and woken up with Jim Carrey.
Now that would have been funny. Unfortunately though, this Bewitched runs out
of steam before anything really happens. To paraphrase my Be Cool review, Bewitched
be mediocre.
