_Bewitched_ (PG-13) ** (out of ****)
_Bewitched_ proves once and for all that Nora Ephron has no idea what she's doing behind the camera--that is, unless she's pointing it at Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. While she has directed far worse films than this "reimagining" of the classic television series (take, for instance, either of her John Travolta starring vehicles), this is probably her most frustrating. If necessity is the mother of invention, then unfounded hubris is the mother of "reinvention," as Ephron takes a perfectly workable, big-screen ready concept and renders it needlessly complicated and barely recognizable.
Contrary to what the title would lead one to believe, this is not a true adaptation of the sitcom centering around Darrin and Samantha Stephens, a normal young couple settling into married life in the suburbs--except for the little fact that she's a witch. Instead, Ephron has fallen into the post-_Adaptation._ meta trend (_Seed_of_Chucky_ and _Fat_Albert_, anyone?), with the show merely serving as a self-referential backdrop/counterpoint to a new and far less interesting supernatural comedy. Jack Wyatt (Will Ferrell), a washed-up movie star attempting a career comeback on the tube with a revival of _Bewitched_. So as not to be upstaged, Jack casts a complete unknown by the name of Isabel Bigalow (Nicole Kidman) as Samantha to his Darrin, but little does he know that she just so happens to be--drumroll please--an *actual* witch!
Thus Ephron and co-writer/sister Delia set themselves up for a twofold failure. The connection to the television series is so tangential that those drawn in by the recognizable title, to say nothing of the show's die-hard loyalists, will feel cheated; the occasional name-check of characters and the occasional nose twitch are hardly satisfying. So it's up to the Ephrons' new storyline to pick up the slack, and Jack and Isabel's world is nowhere nearly as engaging, let alone magical, as Darrin and Samantha's. The tired jokes about the entertainment business not nearly as clever and barbed as Ephron obviously thinks they are; her big biting zinger appears to be that--shocker--big celebrities can be insufferable egotists! The headlining stars have their moments: a game Kidman obviously has fun as the flighty Isabel; Ferrell generating the very few decent laughs with his broad (and, I suspect, largely ad libbed) physical and verbal schtick; and Michael Caine (as Isabel's father) and Shirley Maclaine (as the diva cast as Endora, Samantha's mother) make the most of their limited screen time. But the true magic behind the TV _Bewitched_ was not so much the low-rent witchcraft effects (pumped up here in true summer movie fashion--yet still looking rather cheap) nor the silly jokes than the bewitching appeal of spunky star Elizabeth Montgomery with either of her sweetly straight-arrow Darrins, Dick York and, later, Dick Sargent. The most Kidman and Ferrell are able to create together are nominally convincing friendship vibes, making for a screen pair one is not so eager to see inevitably transform into a screen couple.
What one is eager to see after watching _Bewitched_ is more of the original series (now available on DVD), clips of which are seen throughout the film--and putting any of the new material to shame with its simple, effortless spirit and charm. This _Bewitched_ is belabored, befuddling, and, ultimately, a besmirchment of a beloved brand name.
(c)2005 Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina twotrey@juno.com | mrbrown@iname.com | mrbrown@themoviereport.com The Movie Report/Mr. Brown's Movie Site: www.themoviereport.com www.moviepoopshoot.com | www.cinemareview.com | www.aalbc.com www.johnsingletonfilms.com | on ICQ: #25289934 | on AOL IM: mrbrown23
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