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.

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!

This film never fails to cheer me out of the holiday blues. In fact, I can think of no other film that so succinctly brings the true message of Christmas to the fore without being preachy or heavy-handed. Alan Cumming is simply adorable as luckless Bernard and Lenny Henry is utterly engaging as the titular genie. Henry's tour-de-force performance as the ancient genie discovering modern delights like Big Macs and action films is a wonder to behold. I am tearing up just thinking of the ending, but this truly is a heart-warming film; (though I don't like using that clichéd term, it really means something in this movie.) Rowan Atkinson may have a thankless role as the rat bastard art dealer, but he handles it perfectly. It was my passion for Atkinson's work that made me look at this film in the first place, and I am so grateful I taped it off A&E those many years ago. This is required viewing at Christmastime.

Funny how this movie, which Leonard Maltin has never acknowledged, which was never publicized when it came over to this side of the pond almost 10 years ago, should be such a long-lasting favorite around my house. But it is. We watch it every Christmas and sometimes during the summer as well. Why not? It's terrific. A poor nebbish, Bernard, whose life is at an all-time low, discovers a genie in a lamp, and once he convinces it not to kill him, the two become great friends. In the process the Bernard learns a bit about history, and the genie learns about the modern world.

The acting is terrific; I wish I could see more of Lenny Henry's work as he is a true comic genius, and Alan Cummings conveys just the right amount of silliness and pathos as the poor nebbish, Bernard.

What's truly odd about this film is how it manages, with a few short toss-off sentences, to convey more about Biblical history than most multi-million dollar epics do in their 4+ hours, and how it can seem irreverent and yet still convey a sense that this is what Christianity was about! Not something you'd expect in a film today.

Ultimately we are left with an enormous load of laughter and a surprising mist over the eyes when the movie's over and we've said goodbye to Bernard and the Genie. I wish the movie had been a bit longer; I wish more people had heard about it so I could discuss it with them. But most of all, I wish I could find a Genie like the one Bernard found, who could make my wishes come true.

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'.