Not Exactly Bewitching

Your nose may twitch a lot while watching "Bewitched," but not as an homage to the spell-casting schnozz of star Nicole Kidman. More likely you'll be wrinkling it in disgust.

That may sound a bit harsh, but I was pretty disappointed in this romantic comedy, which opens in theaters nationwide on Friday. The premise -- Kidman is a real witch who gets cast as Samantha in a TV remake of the classic '60s sitcom -- is certainly clever and a refreshingly new take on the TV-show-as-movie concept. And the charms of Kidman and co-star Will Ferrell do shine from time to time. But the movie never really gels, despite the presence of Shirley MacLaine (whose role is reduced to pixie dust), Michael Caine, Jason Schwartzman and several "Daily Show" alumni (Stephen Colbert, Steve Carell and, briefly, Mo Rocca).  Despite the actors' efforts, it's hard to really care about any of the one-dimensional characters they're forced to play.

Director and co-writer Nora Ephron has made an entertaining film about romance and magic. Unfortunately, it came out 12 years ago and was called "Sleepless in Seattle." As for "Bewitched," it doesn't cast any spells, unless making its audience members want to seek a refund counts.

-- Jen

By Jen Chaney |  June 22, 2005; 1:35 PM ET Movies
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Posted by: not-entranced | June 30, 2005 5:15 PM

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