Talk about "Bewitched" here:
Review by: Breanne Derby
Plot Summary
In order to understand this film it's good to have a bit of a background in the 1964 TV series "Bewitched." The series was about a woman named Samantha who was trying to live a normal life with her husband Darrin in spite of the fact that she was a witch who had magical powers. This film is a comedy (with a bit of a love-story to go along with it) about the re-making of the TV series.
Will Ferrell plays Jack Wyatt a distraught actor whose roles on the silver screen have ceased due to a film that bombed, and he is looking to replenish his career by starring as Darrin on the new "Bewitched." Jack wants a "nobody" cast as Samantha, in order to allow him to make Darrin the star of the show, and he happens across Isabelle Bigelow (Nicole Kidman), a woman who has moved to
Hollywood not in search of an acting career, but in search of a "normal" life. Unfortunately, Isabelle's life can be anything but normal because she, like Samantha, is a witch trying to escape her eccentric family and the witching world, and her role in the TV series and failed attempts to quit witchcraft only bring her life to become less and less "normal."
Review
Will Ferrell's performance in this film has to be one of the better ones he's done so far. Usually it seems as though Will Ferrell films just...try too hard, but this film finds the happy medium between boring and not funny at all and not funny at all because the same jokes are used over and over again. This film tones down the usual humor that accompanies his films so that it is still funny, but tastefully done.
Nicole Kidman also did an excellent job. Her portrayal of Isabelle was both believable and lovable. Though she played a witch in "Practical Magic" in 1998, her role as Isabelle was much different and she had a bigger part in the film. She did an excellent job of expressing Isabelle's frustration at being a witch and really commanded the screen. The relationship between Jack and Isabelle could be clearly seen through Ferrell and Kidman's acting, and they make a very good pair together on the screen, it would be interesting to see more films with them acting opposite one another.
Though the plotline isn't deep and intricate, and there aren't twists and turns around every corner, this film is a lot of fun to watch. It's made in a very lighthearted air, and the ends up being something of a "feel-good" film. This film doesn't need a deep and intricate plotline, because it's a lot of fun to watch.
The special effects in this film were not meant to amaze the viewer, they do not take your breath away, but that's perfect. If they did, they wouldn't fit with the film. They were playful and fun, and therefore believable because they fit in the atmosphere that the film set for them. Isabelle was doing an awful lot of magic, but much of it did not require incredible special effects, but when it did, it fit well with the environment of the film, and it made things a bit more "magical."
Another thing worth noting was the soundtrack. It was riddled with less than subtle references to witchcraft, and while spanning a wide variety of musical genres, really tied in well with the film. It included such songs as Kristin Chenoweth's rendition of "Witchy Woman," The Police's "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic," and several others. When paired with the film Bewitched, these songs really take on a whole other meaning. There were also songs that weren't geared toward the witch aspect of the film, but towards what was going on, such as Natalie Cole's "L-O-V-E" or R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts" to name a couple. The soundtrack was very well put together and the songs well chosen to coincide with what was going on in the film.
Conclusion
Personally, I found this film to be quite enjoyable. It was definitely an interesting and unique take on the re-making of old things. I enjoyed the idea that the film was about the alterations made when re-making old films instead of just a re-make of an old film. This still held tribute to the original "Bewitched" without trying to make it bigger and better than before. It wouldn't be just to compare it to the original TV series because it's not at all the same. "Bewitched" the TV series was about Samantha's attempt at normal married life as a witch with a mortal husband, and Bewitched the movie is about Isabelle's attempt to live a normal life and get someone to love her in spite of the fact that she's a witch. This film is good enough that I would reccommend it to my friends as something fun to watch to kill time. It made me laugh out loud in the theatre, and I didn't get bored at the end, two things that are hard to do. Three stars.
