CNS Movie Review: Bewitched

Bewitched

By Harry Forbes
Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) -- The recent dreary "Honeymooners" certainly didn't bode well for the prospect of another sitcom retread, this time the 1960s cult favorite about a mortal who marries a witch with a magical twitchy nose.

Rather than attempting an outright remake, writer-director Nora Ephron has cleverly framed the familiar Darrin-Samantha story as a television show within the film, and the amiable "Bewitched" (Columbia) is, at the least, head and shoulders above the Ralph Kramden debacle.

In this version, Jack Wyatt (Will Ferrell) is a washed-up, soon-to-be-divorced movie actor who thinks that reviving the series with him playing mortal husband Darrin, will spark his sagging career.

So that no one will steal his thunder, he and his agent decide to cast an unknown to play his wife. He spies pretty Isabel Bigelow (Nicole Kidman) in a bookstore wrinkling her nose just like Elizabeth Montgomery.

He speaks to her soon after in a cafe, not realizing Isabel is an actual witch who has just decided to relinquish her powers for a "normal" life, much to the skepticism of her suave father Nigel (Michael Caine).

Isabel takes an immediate shine to Jack, and agrees reluctantly to be in the show, just to be near him. Her singular lack of ambition makes her a perfect partner for Jack, who simply wants her to be a foil for all his pratfalls.

But later, when Isabel overhears Jack and his agent, Richie (Jason Schwartzman), relegating her to wallpaper status, her temper is ignited, and she decides to assert herself, even if it means using a little magic to help things along.

Her girlfriends Maria (Kristin Chenoweth) and Nina (Heather Burns) help dotty Aunt Clara (Carole Shelley) cast a spell on Jack, who then becomes completely smitten with Isabel, not even minding that the studio audience has given her a higher popularity rating than his. (The tongue-in-cheek witchcraft elements are, needless to say, fairly innocuous.)

Admirably, Isabel undoes the spell, and turns back time at the crucial moment so she can win him through natural means, which include standing up for herself, earning his respect by her sheer gumption.

And he does fall head over heels for her, though their romance gets seriously derailed when she admits to him she's a witch and lifts him in the air with a broomstick to prove it!

Ephron's comedy (script co-written with Delia Ephron) is more pleasantly amusing than outright hilarious, but unlike "The Honeymooners," this one pays homage to its small-screen precursor in just the right way. Even the theme song is there, both orchestrally and as sung by Steve Lawrence while Kidman and Farrell dance on the set in one of the film's most delightful sequences.

The script could have been sharper, but there are positive messages about honesty and friendship.

The mercurial Kidman is wonderful to watch, here using a Marilyn Monroe-like whispery voice, and demonstrating an assured knack for comedy. She almost upstages Ferrell, as her character does in the film, but he delivers some bright moments -- particularly as Jack becomes a less obnoxious person -- and there are felicitous turns by Caine, by Shirley MacLaine in the Agnes Moorhead role of Endora, and best of all, by Shelley in Marion Lorne's old role.

The film contains some crude expressions, sexual humor and innuendo, cartoonish witchcraft elements, and partial blurred nudity, making this most suitable for adults or perhaps older adolescents. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents are strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

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Forbes is director of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

END

Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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