Bewitched DVD > Reviews > There's nothing bewitching about this!

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Hated it
Story	Very weak
Characters / Performances	Weak
Special Effects	Weak
How does it compare to similar films?	Weak

Advantages:	Uhm .  .  .  .  .  .
Disadvantages:	Everything !

Recommend to potential buyers:

no

Full review

When I was younger I used to love watching the TV show Bewitched, so when I heard they were making it into a movie I was really excited. Really excited that was, until I heard what the plot was - then I wasn't so excited. And then I read several reviews panning it, followed by an appearance by Nicole Kidman (the main character) on Jonathan Ross' show, where she did the infamous nose wiggle - only she wasn't actually doing it - she was just moving her mouth from side to side. I put all ideas of watching it out of my mind, but when I noticed it was on TV yesterday, I decided I'd give it a chance….

~The Plot~

For anyone who doesn't know, Bewitched was a TV series which ran from 1964-1972. Elizabeth Montgomery played Samantha - a witch who would cast spells by wiggling her nose, who married a mortal Darrin.

Jack Wyatt (played by Will Ferrell) is a famous actor, with a hugely inflated ego. He is starring as Darrin in a remake of the TV series bewitched, and decides to cast an unknown actress as Samantha, so that all the focus will be on him.

While out shopping he spots Isabel Bigelow (Nicole Kidman) twitching her nose. He instantly decides that she is the one for the film, and tries to persuade her to act with him. What Jack doesn't know, is that Isabel is actually a real life witch, who has recently decided to live a mortal life without magic.

Jack persuades the naïve Isabel to star in the TV series, but how long before she realises that he is just using her? And what will happen when she realises she has feelings for him? I'll leave it there, as I wouldn't want to spoil anything!

~What I thought~

Well, lets just say I should have listened to everyone about this film.

The plot of this film was just incredibly dull. I'm no script writer, but personally I would have thought that having a character who is a witch and can perform tricks/cast spells, would give you unlimited possibilities for a plotline. Unfortunately this lacked any imagination, and fell flat on every level. The romance side of things was dull - I found I didn't care about the characters enough to be bothered if they got it together or not. There was very little comedy in the film -although it did try (and fail) in some parts. Also, I found that once it was about halfway through it just dragged, and there were no twists or turns in the plot, and nothing that made me want to keep watching.

Nicole Kidman irritates me as it is, but in this film I found her more irritating than ever. I understand the fact that the character is a witch who is trying to get by without magic for the first time, therefore she is quite naïve in the ways of mortal life, but there is naïve and then there is ridiculous. The high pitched 'innocent' voice that the character insists on using is intensely annoying, as are the squeals of glee whenever she comes across something new - may have been funny once, but not constantly through the film.

Another thing that was a bit confusing, is that although Isabel is in not supposed to be Samantha, she still has an aunt Clara who arrives down the chimney and messes up her spells like the character from the original TV series, which I didn't really understand.

~Other info~

Running time -102 minutes
Rating - PG

~Conclusion~

Well I basically felt that this was a waste of my time, and a bit of an insult to the original TV series, which was fantastic. The performances were weak, the plot line dull, and unimaginative, and also at times confusing. I can't think of any redeeming features about this film, it was boring and uninspired from start to finish, and I would certainly not recommend it.

Please note this is a film only review.