Image Courtesy of Amazon.com
Director :
Nora Ephron
Cast :
Nicole Kidman……….Isabel Bigelow/Samantha
Will Ferrell……….Jack Wyatt/Darren
Shirley MacLaine……….Iris Smythson/Endora
Michael Caine……….Nigel Bigelow
The Movie
Will Ferrell’s 2005 has been pretty off. Whereas a year ago he had the comedy of the year with Anchorman, 2005 showed that he seemed to have a couple miles per hour off his comedic fastball. He started off well, with a great performance in Melinda & Melinda, and Kicking & Screaming got good reviews with mixed box office results. It seemed to be a warm-up for his big box office movie of the year: Bewitched.
Ferrell stars as Jack Wyatt, a washed up movie star looking to revamp his career on a remake of the television show Bewitched. Revamping the show around his character, Jack gets an unknown named Isabel (Nicole Kidman) to step into the role of Samantha. His intention is that no one overshadows him as he, not Samantha, would be the undisputed star of the show.
In what could have been an intriguing concept if used a bit better, Isabel actually is a witch. Looking for a life without her magic, Isabel comes to Earth to start a new life as a ‘normal’ person. Against the advice of her father Nigel (Michael Caine), Isabel falls into the egomania that is Jack’s career re-launch. He doesn’t want anyone or anything ruining it, using his clout to get her reduced to a small part and have the show focus on him. And the movie similarly focuses all of it’s’ energies on Ferrell, and both have the same result. The flatness of the show in the movie and the flatness of the actual movie itself are even beyond the powers of Will Ferrell.
Ferrell can’t rescue this movie, no matter how hard he tries. He knows this is supposed to be his big hit for the summer, the one where he cements his reputation as a funnyman and as a box office draw, Ferrell is working twice as hard to try and turn this into a monstrously funny movie. But it’s too much at times, as the material he’s working with can only be elevated so much.
Score : 4 / 10
The Video
Presented in a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, Bewitched looks great. With a great color separation, Bewitched has a great transfer.
The Audio
Presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, the film sounds great. For a movie that needs certain slight audio cues in order to really work well. While it is a dialogue heavy film, certain things like the soundtrack and the audio cues come in quite fabulously.
The Extras:
Witch Vision trivia track is a factoid track about the film that pops up if you turn it on. With some interesting facts and features about the film, it’s worth a run as there are some factoids that will amuse and some that will enlighten.
Bewitched trivia game is a trivia game about various minutia about the television series.
Deleted scenes are some uneven comedy from Ferrell and Kidman that was cut from the movie for good reason; they aren’t funny.
Casting a Spell: Making Bewitched is about the production of the film. Starting with the idea that trying to recreate the show for a film wouldn’t work, they created the idea about doing a movie about recreating the show. Following it from being an idea to getting Will Ferrell and Nicole Kidman to star, and their inherent chemistry, it’s a twenty-two minute featurette that is a bit fluffy but fairly informative about the film.
Star Shots are a short series of fluff pieces about how wonderful each of the primary cast members is. With the whole cast chiming in, it’s a series of fluff pieces about how everyone is wonderful.
Why I Love Bewitched is a featurette about how the film has inspired continued love from the cast and crew. It’s a pretty interesting feature about how the cast really liked the show and their impressions of it.
Commentary with director Nora Ephron
Score : 7.5 / 10
