Bewitched

Movie Name: Bewitched
Year of Release: 2005
Director: Nora Ephron
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Will Ferrell, Michael Caine, Shirley MacLaine, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, Kristin Chenoweth, Heather Burns, Stephen Colbert, David Alan Grier, Michael Badalucco, Jim Turner, Carole Shelley, Katie Finneran, Amy Sedaris, Richard Kind, Kate Walsh, Annie Mumolo
Genre: Comedy
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 2 
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Synopsis and Review:

After her award winning performance in Stephen Daldry's "The Hours", Nicole Kidman had a series of subsequent years where she managed to work on some fantastic projects. This included Robert Benton's "The Human Stain", Lars Von Trier's "Dogville", Jonathan Glazer's "Birth", Anthony Minghella's "Cold Mountain" and Sydney Pollack's "The Interpreter". While most of those projects were heavy dramas, she mingled those with some light hearted comedies, the first of which was a remake of "The Stepford Wives", directed by Frank Oz, which was met with disappointing reviews, quickly followed by this interpretation of the well beloved "Bewitched" TV show. Writer/Director Nora Ephron who had a string of hits in the 90s, started the new decade and millennium with the poorly received "Lucky Numbers", and this reinterpretation of the show was envisioned as a return to form. The film focuses on the story of Jack Wyatt, an actor who is struggling in his career after a resounding flop, not to mention a pending divorce. His comeback, something he and his team are working on, is a retelling of the classic "Bewitched" TV Show, but with Darrin as the central character, and Samantha as more of a supporting character. In order to further enhance Jack's prominence on the show, they want to cast a rather unknown actress as Samantha. Into play comes Isabel Bigelow, an actual witch, living in LA, who is trying to live her life without her magical powers. She meets Jack in a bookstore, and their initial attraction translates into Jack luring her to become his co-star. However as the pilot episode is shot, and Isabel's magnetism draws attention, and Jack's neediness for attention escalates, magical occurrences start happening.

This remake of "Bewitched" had all the potential for being an enormously satisfying and quirky film, but sadly it ends up being a lackluster homage to the original show, while simultaneously wasting the terrific comedy verve of Will Ferrell. It's a film that sadly imprisons itself to the somewhat meta concept that it has, never really managing to make the coexistence of magic, the commentary on the vapid and ego driven foibles of the entertainment industry, and the romantic adventures of the central couple co-exist. It tries so hard to be so many things, that sadly it fails to be entertaining, or even funny for that matter. The phenomenal cast tries their best, but Nicole Kidman, Shirley MacLaine, Michael Caine, can't do much to elevate the narrative, whereas Will Ferrell has to somehow contain everything that makes him distinctive, to fit the mold of this romantic lead, with the occasional outburst of his energy, which sadly isn't enough to salvage this film. The film in the end lacks wit, warmth, and a genuine sense of magic, which was something the original show always managed to convey. A missed opportunity.