Not Coming to a Theater Near You

Bewitched / USA / 2005

This is exactly what I would expect a film by Nora Ephron, Delia Ephron, and Penny Marshall to look like. Except, much to my surprise, I actually like it. An oh-so genuine surprise considering how, years ago, this film was bashed into oblivion. David Ansen, in the headline of his Newsweek review, stated how this film wasn’t actually bad (much to his own surprise, it seemed), then supported that statement with an entire article about how bad it was; he was a critic divided against himself, as so many others were. Not that I can’t see how the Ephrons’ film could be so divisive; the rating alone on IMDb is a solid five-point-zero out of ten—a dead draw between love and hate. So let’s count now the immediate negatives: It’s an adaptation of a beloved TV show, it’s an adaptation of a TV show about that TV show, it’s by two people named Ephron, and it has Will Ferrel. Normally, I can see why the critics would begin digging this film’s grave before opening weekend. But the storyline allows both Ephron sisters to make underhanded jabs at the Hollywood system, depicted herein as sexist and based entirely on arrogance and misplaced pride (which, I have no doubt, it is).

And yet, the more I remember, the more I find myself searching for a single defendable aspect outside Jason Schwartzmann’s devious Tom Cruise impersonation. The writing is bland and stagnant, the characters are wholly underdeveloped, and the cinematography frequently backs away from moments of unexpected awe; a scene between Nicole Kidman and Michael Caine early on had such great promise for beauty—the two of them walking before a wall of colorful towels, all arranged in tall columns—that I felt betrayed once it ended without being properly utilized. And I don’t see why anyone would make Uncle Arthur the only fictional character—even Aunt Clara and the Kravitzs are allowed to be real, even if only for one scene; he seems like the perfect sarcastic foil for Nicole Kidman’s bumbling free spirit. Instead, the filmmakers have Kidman’s Isabel befriend Kristin Chenoweth and Heather Burns, maybe to enhance the feel of an in-city gender war, all of which leaves Arthur to Will Ferrel’s imagination. Of course I’ve never seen an episode of the television show, so I’m probably not the best person to decide what character goes where, and I’ll probably never understand why I liked this so much. Maybe it’s the kitsch factor, or maybe it just made a dire afternoon a little fun.

by Adam Balz | Source: DVD
17 Dec 2007 8:15 PM | Submit Comment