Bewitched

This romantic comedy film is loosely based on the Sixties TV show stars Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell in the lead roles. Kidman plays Isabel, a real-life witch, who has given it up (almost) to have a normal life, but has discovered how dependant she is on her witchcraft. Ferrell plays Jack, and actor trying to make it big (again) with his role of Derrin in the re-make of the Bewitched TV series, he is desperate for an unknown to play wife Samantha (the lead character in the original TV series) so that he can steal the limelight. He discovers Isabel with a twitchy nose and offers her the job. This leads us into some uncomfortable romantic tangles and some supposedly funny happenings.

You can tell what director Nora Ephron was trying to do on this film in giving it an original slant. The film is nothing like the TV series, but is more about a the actors in a re-make of the TV series. I imagine there are some ‘in-jokes’ for those that remember it better than I, but there is no real re-cap as to who the characters are for those too young too remember the show first time round. Die-hards fans of the Tv series would undoubtedly be disappointed in how this has worked out. I think the idea was to make it appeal to a new, younger audience, but I think it has worked in only being unappealing. The sequence of events happening in the film all seems a bit random and disjointed, and there is absolutely no chemistry between the two leads.

As a side story they brought in Michael Caine to play Isabel’s father and Shirley MacLaine as the actress who plays Samantha’s mother in the show, to hint at some romance, but these veterans can’t save this film, and don’t seem that bothered. Like the rest of this film it was a complete waste of time.

The DVD extras include the director’s commentary and deleted scenes, but unfortunately I was far from inclined to watch them.

4/10

101 in 1001: No 6. Watch 52 Films in 52 Weeks.