Bernard and the Genie

"Bernard and the Genie" first hit Australian screens in the early nineties and when it was on, it was taped by someone in my household and it was clearly one of the greatest decisions ever made. I absolutely adore this movie, there are wall-to-wall, non-stop laughs and a wonderful, heartwarming Christmas storyline.

The script, written by Richard Curtis who later went on to write Four Weddings & a Funeral, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones' Diary, is flawless, it's nothing more than a classic British comedy weaved around a modernisation of the Ali Baba story.

The film really also launched the career of Alan Cumming, who went on to bigger, if not better, things, and whoever he's played more recently, he'll always be endeared in my heart as Bernard Bottle, that simple, humble Scottish art dealer.

A lot of this relies on Lenny Henry and his making a fool of himself in public - a lot of it is based on anachronistic jokes, but the partnership between the physical and, frankly, very silly antics of Henry and the very quaint and naive simplicity of Cumming balances out perfectly. Rowan Atkinson is also wonderful as a greedy, rich and fundamentally unlikeable bastard. I also love Dennis Lill as the lift operator Kepple, all of his scenes are brilliant.

Even writing about it now makes me smile. If you ever get a chance to see this movie, do, I can assure you you won't be disappointed. It's warm, sweet-hearted and immensely funny. I can't bring myself to give this less than five stars even if it is just short and sweet.

Like the film Elf, this BBC television film written by Richard Curtis could had been an annual Christmas programming fixture. However the BBC have never repeated it and has rather faded away from the collective memories.

An early starring role for Alan Cumming who plays Bernard Bottle, a mild mannered art dealer fired by his ruthless, conniving boss played by Rowan Atkinson.

At the same time he discovers that his girlfriend is having an affair with his best friend but he accidentally rubs an old lamp she gave him last Christmas and out pops a genie played by Lenny Henry.

Lenny's genie owes less to the Arabian Nights as it mixes it up with the Biblical tale of Jesus. The laughs come from the chemistry between Cumming and Henry and the Genie discovering modern life almost 2000 years later as he eats ice cream, fast food, goes to the cinema watching action films.

At the same time Bernard's old boss wants to discover his list of valuable paintings. Bernard and the Genie need to be one step ahead of him and the police, which requires a dash of time-wimey before it became popular in the re-launched Doctor Who.

The film at 70 minutes does not feel too long but concise, it's not preachy which some Curtis films has a tendency to be. It is brisk family entertainment which after 20 years I enjoyed again with my young son. It is a contender as a classic.

Unfortunately Richard Curtis made a big Hollywood reimagining in 2023 called Genie. It was poor.

Forget 'Love, Actually' this is the ORIGINAL Christmas feel good movie by the great writer/director Richard Curtis ('Four Weddings & a Funeral', 'Notting Hill', 'Bridget Jones Diary', 'Mr. Bean', 'Blackadder' and of course 'Love, Actually') Bernard & The Genie is quite possibly one of his finest pieces of writing – despite being his first film the story delivers on every level. Commissioned by the BBC in the early 1990's to be placed in the Christmas Programming it's STILL, nearly 15 years on, better than ever, full of emotion, warmth, pathos and of course trademark Curtis laughs. Its short enough and entertaining enough to keep children hooked from the outset and seems, like many things in life, to get better with age. I was 7 when it was first shown on television, it was fantastic then and it was still fantastic when I watched it last night.

The story is simple, our hero (Bernard) is an infallible arts dealer who seems to have both success and good fortune, he's engaged to be married and has just earned his art dealing company £50 million. Then, through a series of very unfortunate events (primarily due to other peoples greed and bad will) he is left jobless, single, broke and lonely (prompting one of many exceptionally worked Christmas hit songs.) Then, while reminiscing about last Christmas he finds a present given to him by his now ex-fiancé...a lamp.

What follows is the story of a very unlikely friendship between a hapless ex-arts dealer and a street wise 2000 year old Genie – and the result is a heart warming Christmas treat. It delicately describes both the 'real' reason for and commercial side of Christmas better than any other Christmas film I've seen before or since.

The acting is superb, both Alan Cummings (X-Men 2, Spy Kids, Eyes Wide Shut) and Lenny Henry (Chef, The Lenny Henry Show) deliver both comedy and drama to great effect and there on-screen chemistry is something many big budget films fail to create. Rowan Atkinson plays the snide and malicious Charles Pinkworth masterfully, and all the other parts (plus many cameos including Bob Geldof, Melvin Bragg, Gary Lineker and Trevor McDonald) are played brilliantly, particularly Dennis Lill (Fierce Creatures, Evita) as friendly serial-lying doorman Kepple.

The music in the film fits in like an old well-loved glove; I was convinced that many of the famous songs were written specifically for the film, the breathtaking score by Howard Goodall (various comedy show themes, The Gathering Storm, Johnny English) is both atmospheric and beautiful.

If you're a fan of Christmas films, good British humour, or simply fancy being cheered up I urge you to try and find this film, look beyond some of the more dated jokes and costumes and enjoy a story which is timeless and what I'm sure will one day be recognised as a proverbial 'Christmas Classic'.

I really love this movie. I've seen thousands of films that claim to be 'feel good', but strangely enough none of them actually made me feel good. This one does. It's also quite hilarious, and also sad enough to make me cry at the end. The brilliance that is this film might owe something to the efforts of Lenny Henry, Rowan Atkinson (bugger ye off) and Richard Curtis - not to mention Bernard himself. Another plus factor about this movie is that it really is fit for all ages. Buy it!

It has everything you need in a Christmas film- laughs, tears, a good message, and every Christmas song known to man! Me and my sister still love it and watch it every year at Christmas. It doesn't seem to have been shown on British TV since we recorded back in the early nineties. They really need to show it again so they can introduce a whole new legion of fans to Bernard Bottle. The video is really rare, I paid £40 for it, and now I discover there is a DVD. Bum! But its still amazing. I have seen it so much that when I now hear 'Lonely This Christmas' I expect a bauble to smash after the words "and an unlit Christmas tree" ! "he's Mr success, he's higher than high, he's sweeter than the sweetest cherry pie"