Bernard and the Genie

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"

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!

I have to agree with the rest of the comments on this page - this is the greatest Christmas film of all time. The performances from Lenny Henry, Alan Cummings and Rowan Atkinson are well cast as are the extras such as Mrs Purse and the lift operator. The acting is superb and the writing is excellent. I have watched it since it was first broadcast Christmas 1991 when I was 8, and have always enjoyed it even from that early age! So definitely a recommended film for all ages, and at any time of the year! "You smell of peppermints and it is time to die!"

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.

"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.