Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Bewitched



All the talent in the world could not save this sorry excuse for a film. Bewitched feels more like a curse than anything else.
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Will Ferrell, Shirley MacLaine, Michael Caine, and Jason Schwartzman
Written by: Delia Ephron, Nora Ephron, and Adam McKay
Directed by: Nora Ephron


On paper, this is a film that could have done exceptionally well. Between the great cast, relatively smart filmmakers behind it, and the still-popular TV show that the movie is based on, how could this movie fail? Well, quite simply, the writing is poor enough that it would be hard to believe that anyone put more than five minutes of thought into the film. Granted, none of the writers involved are known for particularly riveting film, but the movie is a lost, fuzzy, and unfocused shamble of scenes that never adds up to anything more than a half-baked homage to the TV series. While each of the actors do a relatively good job of all of their roles (Steve Carell does an outstanding job of mimicking the off-beat Uncle Arthur), some of the writing for the characters is so bad that you often feel perplexed. This is particularly true with the character of Samantha/Isabel Bigelow, who is such a ditz to the point that it's almost offensive, and really leaves little room for Nicole Kidman to do much more than just look stupid. This is an excruciatingly painful watch, with the only source of relief coming from Will Ferell usually crazy antics, and some surprising scenes (surprising only in the sense that they're actually relatively funny). Within the first five to ten minutes, it's pretty obvious how the rest of the film will flow, and for the most part it's a slow, long, boring ride.

★☆☆☆☆

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