Ma sorcière bien-aimée

The basic story is that Jack Wyatt, a washed-up movie actor, needs a new angle and decides it is television. Everyone settles on re-activating "Bewitched." Now he needs a Samantha and by accident picks the real thing (a witch).

You could guess the rest.

Everyone tried too hard. It was not uniquely anything except nothing.

Will Ferrell is not good at anything; in this case, he does his best at being annoying. Nicole Kidman is too cute at being cutesy. Only Michael Caine holds it together. That is what there is to hold together.

You do not even feel like kibitzing and will be glad when it is over.

Are a few good laughs worth wasting 100 minutes of time? For me, the answer is a resounding "No!" There are far more promising avenues to explore in the quest for laughter than the dead-end represented by Will Farrell's latest endeavor, Bewitched. Putting aside the juvenile humor (which is admittedly, albeit unevenly, funny), all that's left is a woefully underwritten motion picture. The last 30 minutes is so godawful that it almost sent me screaming from the theater.

When you consider that this film stars one of the most successful comedic actors of the past decade as well as a very cool premise revolving around a beloved old TV show, this could have been a much funnier movie. Instead, we're left with a handful of chuckles and not enough gas to cover the film's short runtime. We also get a butchering of that beloved old TV show. This thing tries to be too cute for it's own good. It's a film about a film about an old TV show called Bewitched. GACK. Just call it awful and be done with it.

It's hard to imagine "Bewitched" having an overall score of 4.8 on IMDB. This would indicate that it's a pretty bad film...which is hard to imagine since the film stars Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell...and was written and directed by Nora Ephron. Yet, somehow the film was not a hit and is thought of as one of the worst movie any of these folks ever made...if not THE worst. I was curious about this...so I decided to torture myself and see.

Instead of just making a remake of the TV show, Ephron decided to do something unusual. The film is about an obnoxious and self-centered actor, Jack (Ferrell) and his attempt to make a new version of the old TV show "Bewitched". And, in the process, he accidentally comes in contact with a REAL witch, Isabel (Kidman), and hires her to co-star in this reboot. Unfortunately, she soon realizes that Jack is a jerk who wants her to essentially be a nothing on the show...with him, alone, being the star. She's furious and decides to hex him...or quit the show. What's next? See the film...or not.



So why did so many folks dislike this movie? Well, I think it's for a variety of reasons. First, and perhaps the biggest problem, is that it really is NOT a remake. Folks who adored the TV show were no doubt disappointed to see this. Second, and it's more of a minor quibble, but some characters are supposed to be from the show and others, such as Aunt Clara, are supposed to be real witches. This is pretty confusing and made little sense. Third, Will Ferrell's character was supposed to be unlikable...or at least an obnoxious actor. But they simply made him TOO unlikable...a real jerk. His being this awful also is a problem as it's hard to keep your interest in the story when you hate one of the main characters. Sure, he becomes nice later...but by then it's too late AND the transformation made little sense. Fourth, the film really could have been very funny. Oddly, however, there's barely a laugh in the film...and with these situations it's hard to imagine it not being funny. Fifth, with all this talent (not just Kidman, Ferrell and Ephron but Shirley MacLaine, Michael Caine and Jason Schwartzman are in the movie), you expect so much better. Overall, it isn't terrible but it isn't very good either...and disappointing.

By the way, was there much about this film I liked? Well, I loved hearing Steve Lawrence singing "Bewitched", as if you didn't know better, you'd swear it was Sinatra himself singing the tune....that was pretty incredible.

Nicole Kidman makes the whole wretched thing almost palatable. The, supposedly, inventiveness of this farce within a farce is hammered on with such lack of subtlety that, sometimes, you want to shout at the screen "Hey you! We're not brain dead! We got it! Move on! Will Ferrell is still a great TV comedian. How is it possible that nobody has told him that on the big screen less is more. Strangely, Nicole Kidman, the witch, is totally rooted in reality, we believe her. Will Ferrell, the mortal, is a loud caricature from beginning to end and we just can't get the attraction. There are some little perks however, Carole Shelley as Aunt Clara took me, thankfully, out of the movie and I spent at least 15 minutes asking myself where I've seen this actress before - The Odd Couple, one of the Pigeon sisters! Goodness! I was uncomfortable with Shirley MacLaine's cameo because I love her and I could only focus on the strange tightness in her face. I am a Kidmanite through and through that's why I go to see everything she does because I know that, even if she's involved in something quite beneath her, she manages to sparkle, to shine to surprise. Thank God for you Nicole.

Conceited fading film star Jack Wyatt (Will Ferrell) has agreed to star as Darren in a redo of the old TV series "Bewitched". He wants an unknown to play Samantha--his wife who is also a witch. Isabel Bigelow (Nicole Kideman) is an actual witch who wants to live a mortal life against the wishes of her father (Michael Caine). Ferrell sees her and wants to cast her in the series. There's the joke--a REAL witch trying to portray a fake witch on TV. Unfortunately that joke is repeated over and over and OVER in the film. It's a one joke film.

The film does have a lot of things going for it--Kidman is a delight as Isabel; Caine is lots of fun as her father; Shirley MacLaine has a short funny role playing Iris Smythson who plays Endora; the film looks great; the special effects are flawless and there are some great old appropriate songs scattered throughout. Unfortnataly the bad things outnumber the good.

For one thing Will Ferrell--I personally can't stand the guy. I've never found him funny. This movie doesn't change my opinion but he's not as bad as usual. Isabel also comes across as an idiot. She seems completely in awe of EVERYTHING in the world. She acts like she just came from another planet. Kidman's light performance saves her character from becoming completely unbearable. Also I could have lived without the constant product placement for Bed, Bath & Beyond. But the main problem is that the movie just isn't that funny. I smiled a few times but that was it. It's VERY likable--but nothing else.

**SPOILER ALERT** The movie is almost saved by Steve Carell doing a quick (and VERY funny) bit imitating Paul Lynde as Uncle Arthur. Still that comes in 90 minutes into the movie--too late to save it. **END SPOILER**

An OK but not very fun movie. It's easy to see why this bombed. I give it a 6.