I'll admit right up front that I never paid particularly close attention to the re-runs of Bewitched when they came on TV. I watched them with one eye. Bewitched was never one of those old TV shows that I enjoyed (Gilligan's Island) nor was it one of those ones I detested (Leave It to Beaver). In a sense, it was a show that I was always ambivalent about.
So the next question that a reader will doubtlessly ask is: why did I go out and see a movie version of an old TV show that I was always ambivalent about? Especially after I've long hammered on Hollywood for not getting the message that they need to stop with the damn classic TV show remakes. The answer being that the trailer looked pretty good and the overall premise (a show within a show) was promising. Instead of making a movie directly based on the old show, Bewitched would lampoon and parody it. So the potential was there.
It's not the best movie I've ever seen or even the best TV show based film. Yet it's not the worst either. Bewitched is not as funny as Madagascar or even Mr. And Mrs. Smith. Yet it's not mind-numbingly awful like Wild Wild West or Scooby-Doo or I Spy. In essence, it's an average movie. It's not one I walked out of ready to rip to shreds. It's not one that I walked out of furiously wanting my $6.50 back. Yet it's not one that I could actually recommend paying $6.50 for, unless you have absolutely nothing else better to do and you've already seen everything else in the theater (except for Herbie. Please, as a favor to all of us, do not go see that Herbie movie. Do it as a favor to the American movie going public and to Lindsey Lohan. She'll thank us later.)
If you happen to be an Iraqi insurgent who spent most of his life living under the iron thumb of Saddam Hussein and have never seen a rerun of Bewitched, I'll offer up a quick synopsis. The show starred Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha, housewife who is also a witch. Dick York/Dick Sargent played her nebbish hubby Darren (no Cameo from Sergeant Dick York though). The show was immensely popular in the 1960s (it ran from 1964-1972) and is still around today. Catch reruns on TVland.
As I previously noted, the 2005 Bewitched is not a straightforward remake per se. Instead, it's a movie parody that knows it's a movie parody. Will Ferrell plays Jack Wyatt, a rather nebbish and egotistical actor, whose career flat lined after he starred in a wretched movie called "Last Year in Katmandu". Seeking to revive his acting career, he signs on to play Darren in a remake of Bewitched. Under the advice of his agent, he insists that the actress playing Samantha be someone unknown.
At a local area bookstore, he bumps into Isabel Bigelow (Nicole Kidman). Isabel wins his attention by showing she can wiggle her nose just like Samantha. This causes him to insist that she sign on as Samantha. Unfortunately, he does not know that Isabel is a real witch. So in essence, the new Bewitched is a movie masquerading as a TV show that knows it was based on a TV show yet is unknowingly mimicking that TV show if that makes any sense.
I always thought Ferrell was best in non-lead roles. This may have to do with his roles on Saturday Night Live. I liked him in his role as a numbskull wildlife marshal in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and I sort of enjoyed Anchorman the Legend of Ron Burgundy. However, most of his attempts at leading roles seem to fall flat.
Here he does decently for the most part. His role as Jack/Darren seems to have been written specifically with him in mind and he shows it. He plays Jack as Darren mixed with a certain level of Ron Burgundy ego.
Nicole Kidman seems like the only choice to play Isabel/Samantha. She's quite good at it and manages to (almost) do for this movie what she did for last year's Stepford Wives remake. That is, she manages to almost save it.
Bewitched has some funny moments. One occurs when Isabel has cast a hex on Jack in an attempt to get him to change his evil ways. Another is when his ex-wife shows up, right after Jack and Isabel have fallen in love. In essence, the funniest moments in the movie involve witchcraft. Unfortunately, there aren't enough of them.
The main problem with Bewitched has to do with the fact that if you've seen the aforementioned trailer, you've basically seen the bulk of the movie. Nearly all of the funny scenes are included there and there may be one or two that aren't. However, the unfunny scenes outnumber the funny ones and that's the movie's undoing.
There's nothing really truly awful about Bewitched. Nothing that will make you want to walk out quoting John Travolta's classic line about Hollywood ("They make shit"). Yet I can't recommend plunking down $6.50-$7.50 to see it, when it will be making a premiere at a local Blockbuster one or two months from now. If any movie was made for the home DVD player, Bewitched is it.
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