Is Bewitched a bad movie? Not really. At least, not until the last ten minutes. The last ten minutes ruined it for me. Up until that moment I thought Nicole Kidman was adorable, Will Farrell was funny as usual, Michael Caine was dashing and Shirley MacLaine was fun. But when Steve Carell entered the picture and proceeded to do a horrible imitation of Paul Lynde I was completely taken OUT of the movie and could only think about how bad the impersonation was. And the plot device of including Paul Lynde also ruined the way the movie ended.
And don’t get me started on the not-there resolution regarding Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine’s relationship.
The movie is not simply a remake of the tv show. It’s actually a movie about Hollywood remaking the tv show. Will Farrell plays an actor who is hired to play Darrin and he discovers Nicole Kidman’s character, a witch named Isabel, when he sees her wiggle her nose (a la Samantha) while reading a book in a bookstore. Isabel has come to “our world” to try and live a non-witch live. Her dream is to be normal and experience all the things we “regular” people get to experience.
This was probably the most lowkey that Will Farrell has been (it actually had me thinking that if he gets the right script he could easily switch and become a dramatic actor a la Robin Williams, Jim Carrey (see “Doing Time on Maple Drive”) or Bill Murray). I enjoyed that about his performance. Nicole Kidman was luminous and gorgeous and has good comedic timing. The plot had great potential and was fun to follow.
But that ending. That last ten minutes. Just….bad. I feel bad for Steve Carell in that regard.
It could have been 3 if it had had a better ending. As it is, I can only give this one 1 drop of sweat out of five.