Bewitched (2005)

Director:

Nora Ephron

Writers (WGA):

Nora Ephron (written by) &
Delia Ephron (written by) ...

Release Date:

24 June 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy | Romance

Tagline:

Be warned. Be ready.

Plot:

Thinking he can overshadow an unknown actress in the part, an egocentric actor unknowingly gets a witch cast in an upcoming television remake of the classic show "Bewitched".

Plot Keywords:

Witch | Actor | Actress | Hex | Love

Awards:

1 win & 6 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Fri. Jan. 8	11:30 PM	TBS
Sat. Jan. 9	1:25 PM	TBS

Cast

Nicole Kidman	...	Isabel Bigelow / Samantha
Will Ferrell	...	Jack Wyatt / Darrin
Shirley MacLaine	...	Iris Smythson / Endora
Michael Caine	...	Nigel Bigelow
Jason Schwartzman	...	Ritchie
Kristin Chenoweth	...	Maria Kelly
Heather Burns	...	Nina
Jim Turner	...	Larry
Stephen Colbert	...	Stu Robison
David Alan Grier	...	Jim Fields
Michael Badalucco	...	Joey Props
Carole Shelley	...	Aunt Clara
Steve Carell	...	Uncle Arthur
Katie Finneran	...	Sheila Wyatt
James Lipton	...	Himself

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some language, including sex and drug references, and partial nudity.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Finland:S | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Norway:A | Taiwan:GP | Argentina:Atp | Germany:o.Al. (f) | Brazil:Livre | Sweden:Btl | Belgium:KT | Switzerland:12 (canton of Zurich) | Portugal:M/6 | Malaysia:U | Netherlands:AL | South Korea:12 | Peru:PT | New Zealand:PG | UK:PG | Australia:PG | Singapore:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | Ireland:PG | USA:PG-13 (certificate #40125) | Iceland:L | Hong Kong:IIA | Philippines:G

Filming Locations:

Book Soup - 8818 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

The house that Isabel rents was chosen by director Nora Ephron because it had belonged to friends of her parents and she visited it many times as a child. By pure coincidence, those friends were Larry Berns and his wife, Sandra Gould, who played the second, better-known Gladys Kravitz. Alice Pearce, the first Gladys Kravitz, died after the second season and was replaced with Gould. Ephron claims in the DVD commentary that she didn't realize this until after the movie was made.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Jack is talking to his ex-wife, Sheila, on set, her shawl is alternately on/off her shoulder between shots.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Isabel Bigelow: [Outside a house at which Isabel has just landed and made available for rent, furnished, with an open house today] It's perfect!
Realtor: Oh, great!
Isabel Bigelow: I'll take it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in All Our Variant Futures (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

Won't Get Fooled Again

Stick With The Reruns...

BEWITCHED (1 outta 5 stars) What a terrible, misbegotten abortion of a movie this turned out to be! Why couldn't they just be content to make a straight-forward adaptation of the old TV series? Samantha's a witch, Darren's a mortal... they fall in love and then conflicts ensue. Why did they have to devise this complicated and nonsensical storyline about a lousy movie actor (Will Ferrell) who plans on saving his floundering career by starring in a TV remake of "Bewitched"? And he just happens to cast a real witch (Nicole Kidman) in the female lead? And this real witch just happens to have some real relatives who are the same characters from the original TV series? The story gets pretty desperate at times... with "dream" sequences, the appearance of characters who may or may not be mere figments of someone's imagination and the ability of "Samantha" to turn back time indefinitely to erase any of her spells that may have gone awry. (Too bad they couldn't just rewind this whole movie and start over again.) Kidman has an appealing screen presence and probably could have done a good job in an actual "Bewitched" story. Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine are wasted on a goofy subplot that never really comes to any kind of satisfying conclusion. Will Farrell has a few funny moments but basically he plays an unlikable twit and there is no reason in the world for Kidman's character to fall in love with him. Awful, awful stuff... maybe if we all wriggle our noses we can make this movie disappear...?