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by R.J. Carter Published: June 25, 2005
Will Ferrell plays Jack Wyatt, an actor who's had a string of bad movies. He's fortunate to land the role of Darrin in a television revival of the classic television show. Urged on by his handler, Wyatt demands an unknown actress be cast in the role of Samantha so that the spotlight will shine more brightly on him. Nicole Kidman is Isabel Bigelow, a witch who has tired of witchcraft. She wants to do things on her own, with her own hands, to build up her self-esteem. Her naivete is a bit overdone early on, coming across as a mixture between Marilyn Monroe and Gracie Allen. (As she struggles to hook up her entertainment system, a man knocks at the door. He's from the cable company and, her hands full of cables, turns him away with a polite "No thanks, I already have some.") She wants a mortal man, full of foibles and a total mess. When she meets Jack Wyatt in a bookstore, he fits her bill completely. And she just happens to fit his. He quickly convinces her to play Samantha, and Isabel thinks she's got a handle on her new life. Until she learns she's merely window dressing without lines -- then she can get downright witchy. The romantic potential between Isabel and Jack goes back and forth until she inevitably tells him the truth. And that's when things start to get seriously weird and unexplainable -- not so much for Jack, but for the moviegoers.
Upstaging everyone in this film is Michael Caine as Isabel's womanizing warlock father, Nigel, and Shirley MacLaine as the hammy Iris Smythson who lands the role of Endora. Nora Ephron also manages to lift a good handful of lines from the original series and pepper the script with them for the fans to detect, and gives the show a sparkling ending after some rather lackluster scenes. The one unforgivable sin in this movie lies at the feet of the casting department, for selecting a poor Paul Lynde imitator to play Uncle Arthur, when the careful viewer will note that Spin City's Richard Kind was already available and in the cast. However, for casting Shirley MacLaine in her role, we'll have to be content to call things even. ...And Then What Happens? Nicole Kidman will provide a voice in the upcoming animated tale of penguins in Happy Feet. Will Ferrell has no shortage of projects. He'll be seen again soon in a role in Wedding Crashers and will voice The Man in the Yellow Hat for the upcoming Curious George. Michael Caine is currently seen in Batman Begins and will soon be seen again in Gore Verbinski's The Weather Man. Shirley Maclaine plays Ella in Curtis Hanson's translation of Jennifer Weiner's novel, In Her Shoes. Other Bewitched links: CinemaSpider |
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