{"id":8953,"date":"2024-11-27T12:56:44","date_gmt":"2024-11-27T17:56:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=8953"},"modified":"2024-11-27T12:56:44","modified_gmt":"2024-11-27T17:56:44","slug":"bewitched","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/11\/27\/bewitched\/","title":{"rendered":"Bewitched"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Bewitched<\/strong> (2005)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Columbia\/Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 102 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG-13 (some language, sex and drug references, partial nudity)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Nora Ephron\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: George Fenton\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: John Lindley\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: June 24, 2005 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Nicole Kidman, Will Ferrell, Shirley MacLaine, Michael Caine, Jason Schwartzman, Kristin Chenoweth, Heather Burns, Jim Turner, Stephen Colbert, David Alan Grier, Michael Badalucco, Katie Finneran, Carole Shelley, Steve Carrell, Amy Sedaris, Richard Kind.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $63.3M (US)\/$131.4M (World)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: * \u00bd<\/p>\n

\u00a0When I was growing up, the sitcom Bewitched was one of the most popular shows in syndication. In those early years, I must have watched a few episodes, but I couldn\u2019t tell you which ones. It was only this year that I finally watched the show, all eight seasons. It\u2019s a funny show despite a few things like the tendency to recycle scripts in later seasons and Darrin\u2019s inability to learn not to piss off his mother-in-law Endora lest she put another spell on him. As for the whole Darrin debate, let\u2019s just say I\u2019m on Team 1 (Dick York). However, I\u2019ll take Darrin 2 (Dick Sargent) over Will Ferrell any day.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The SNL funny man actually plays Jack Wyatt, an out-of-work actor cast as Darrin Stephens on a reboot of the classic sitcom in Bewitched<\/strong>, a film adaptation that gets credit for trying to do something different. It\u2019s too bad it doesn\u2019t work. Directed and co-written by Nora Ephron (Sleepless in Seattle), it\u2019s NOT a direct adaptation of the Sol Saks sitcom about a young, attractive witch married to a mortal man. Instead, it\u2019s a rom-com set around a new version of Bewitched, one that will focus on Darrin as per the demands of Jack Wyatt, an egotistical movie star looking to fix his career after his last film bombed big. His demands include, among other things, an unknown actress cast in the role of Samantha. What is it Oscar Wilde said about wishing for things?<\/p>\n

\u00a0Isabel Bigelow (Kidman, Moulin Rouge) is looking to start a new life away from her father Nigel (Caine, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) and a life of privilege, magically speaking. You see, Isabel is a witch; a real broom-riding, house-haunting, cauldron-stirring witch. She longs to live a normal life without magic, so she moves to L.A. to pursue her dream. Isabel first encounters Jack while browsing the shelves at a bookstore. When he spots her twitching her nose, he knows he\u2019s found his Samantha. He convinces her to take the role without knowing she\u2019s more ideally suited for the part than he realizes.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Isabel soon learns what her co-star really had in mind when Jack asked her to be on the show. He wants the spotlight to himself. This means not giving her any lines and upstaging her at every opportunity. Naturally, she\u2019s furious and decides to deal with him the best way she knows how, a love spell concocted by batty Aunt Clara (Shelley, The Odd Couple). It works, perhaps a little too well.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I saw Bewitched<\/strong> when it first came out in \u201905 and hated it. At that point, I was only familiar with the original series. I knew the premise and major characters, that\u2019s about it. When I finished watching the entire series this past week, I decided to give the movie version another go. I still don\u2019t like it, but I\u2019m willing to concede it has a few good points. It\u2019s too bad Ephron doesn\u2019t know what to do with them. Take Shirley MacLaine (Terms of Endearment). She plays Iris Smythson, the diva actress hired to play Endora. I can\u2019t think of more perfect casting for the troublemaking mother-in-law. Sadly, she goes WAY underused, a crime that continues even after it\u2019s revealed Iris is a witch too. Caine is similarly wasted as Isabel\u2019s intrusive father who falls for Iris.<\/p>\n

\u00a0It\u2019s no secret I\u2019m not one of Ferrell\u2019s biggest fans. Although I\u2019ve liked him in a handful of movies, I really don\u2019t get his appeal. He always seems to playing the same basic character, a buffoon with a too-high opinion of himself. Look at his characters in the Anchorman movies, Talladega Nights, Semi-Pro and Land of the Lost. They\u2019re all pretty much the same. He does the exact same thing in Bewitched<\/strong>. It proves he\u2019s the last person that should play Darrin. It would be a grievous bit of miscasting. I guess it\u2019s good he\u2019s playing a character one step removed from Darrin. As for what Ferrell actually does, it\u2019s not a bad performance per se; it\u2019s just in the wrong movie. It feels like Jack Wyatt belongs in a different movie which brings me to my next point.<\/p>\n

\u00a0At times, it feels like Bewitched<\/strong> is onto something with the idea of a rebooted Bewitched, but it never quite gets there. Am I the only one that sees satire potential here? A lot of fun could be had with the trend for Hollywood to remake\/reboot everything. Sadly, Ephron downplays the satirical aspects in favor of lame-brained comedy involving magic spells and Ferrell acting (is he acting?) like an ass.<\/p>\n

\u00a0As I watched Bewitched, I couldn\u2019t help but notice a resemblance between Elizabeth Montgomery and Nicole Kidman. I think she\u2019d make a good Samantha Stephens. As for her performance in Bewitched<\/strong>, it\u2019s nice to see her relaxed after intense roles in more serious films like The Others, The Hours and Cold Mountain. We won\u2019t talk about the Stepford Wives remake. Kidman has a gift for comedy. It\u2019s a crying shame the rest of the movie fails her. I also like Steve Carell (Anchorman) as Uncle Arthur. He does an uncannily great impression of Paul Lynde.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Here\u2019s the bottom line about Bewitched<\/strong>. It\u2019s composed of a few good parts that unfortunately don\u2019t gel. Had it been more of a show biz satire, Jason Schwartzman\u2019s (Rushmore) sycophantic agent would have been a great fit. As it is, it\u2019s just not a good movie. It\u2019s mostly unfunny and always frustrating. This movie\u2019s misguidedness is especially disappointing given the talented filmmaker at the helm. The late Ms. Ephron\u2019s resume includes the underappreciated This Is My Life (see it if you haven\u2019t already), Sleepless in Seattle, You\u2019ve Got Mail and her swan song Julie & Julia. I\u2019d also include Mixed Nuts, a comedy I watch religiously at Christmas every year. She really dropped the ball with Bewitched<\/strong> thus proving even a different slant on old material won\u2019t necessarily help.\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bewitched (2005)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Columbia\/Comedy\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 102 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG-13 (some language, sex and drug references, partial nudity)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Nora Ephron\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: George Fenton\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: John Lindley\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: June 24, 2005 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Nicole Kidman, Will Ferrell, Shirley MacLaine, Michael Caine, Jason Schwartzman, Kristin Chenoweth, Heather Burns, Jim Turner, Stephen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9283,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comedies","category-this-sucks-so-bad"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Bewitched-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8953"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8953\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9285,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8953\/revisions\/9285"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}