The screenplay was written by Nora Ephron and her sister Delia Ephron, who as I mentioned wrote the screenplays for hosts of other romantic comedies, so they knew what they were doing. Unfortunately this also meant it was a rather clichéd romantic comedy. Everything was to be expected, both lines and events.
I’ll mention the music as well. But as usual I did not really notice much, except for the sudden insertion of R.E.M.’s Everybody Hurts. Which I felt did not really ‘go’ but like I always keep complaining, it’s in films like these where songs are just inserted over the top, rather than it all be composed music.
So what were the good parts of the film? As a whole, it was a good romantic comedy, until it hits a certain point. The best parts of the film were probably the more humorous sections. I seem to remember Wyatt licking a shoe or a handbag, I am unsure. The scene at the dinner table was rather funny along with Wyatt’s obsession. I did also like the occasional nod to Bewitched; changing the title animations, complaining because they changed Darrin and nobody noticed, and generally remembering episodes of the series while watching the film. But they should have kept it at just that.
So those were the good bits… what was bad? The film seemed to go downhill with the introduction of Aunt Clara, and everything began to feel a little disjointed, the film became Bewitched, which is not what I wanted to happen after all that had took place earlier in the film. This also included the use of Uncle Arthur, so that before these introductions the film felt better as a romantic comedy about the stars of a Bewitched series, rather than actually taking from Bewitched itself.
I also felt that the magic was a little over done… but I loved that they included the two neighbours at the end.
Overall I can say that it was an enjoyable film. Keeping some of the same sort of elements from Bewitched, references to characters and some hilarious sequences. Bewitched proved a better film than I would have presumed. I can only hope I Dream of Jeanie will be comparable with the standards.
Cptalbertwesker Rating – 6/10
We were supposed to be watching The Island, but we got the showing times, muddled, so I watched Bewitched instead, I wouldn’t have usually, but I grew up watching the show. It was ok I suppose, funny at times, a nice little Romantic Comedy.
Article comments
1 - Matt Largo
I was really let down by this movie. "Bewitched" was one of my childhood favorites through all of the Darrins. I think that it failed miserably despite all of it's "star power". I thought that there was zero believable romantic chemistry between Kidman and Ferrell. I could pick out the dialogue that was ad libbed by Ferrell. The director obviously let Ferrell run wild with improvisation with mediocre results. I had to work to get through this DVD. It took me three sittings. As soon as I finished it I packed it into the Netflix self-mailer asap and threw it at the mailman. I'd give this four points, one point for each of Nicole Kidman, Michael Caine, Shirley MacLaine, and Will Ferrell, just because they exist in the film.