BEWITCHED

US, 2005, 98 minutes, Colour.
Nicole Kidman, Will Ferrell, Michael Caine, Shirley Mac Laine, Jason Schwarzman, Steve Carrell.
Directed by Norah Ephron.

A really pleasant surprise.

With the fashion for remaking popular television series of decades past for the big screen, expectations are often low. Can a series really be updated? Will it keep the spirit and entertainment value of the original? How will it cope with audience nostalgia, the memory of the past? According to the press notes and the quotes from the cast, Bewitched must be one of the most widely seen series and one that delighted so many people.

Director Nora Ephron has a very good record in making popular romantic comedies. She made both Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail. Writing with her novelist sister, Delia, she creates an atmosphere that combines sentiment and humour. With Bewitched, they have an even better idea for bringing the series into the 21st century. It is a 'what if...?'.

What if the studios were re-making Bewitched for television to revive the fortunes of a star whose career is in trouble and he insisted on casting an unknown as Samantha (to keep him securely centre-screen)? The even better 'what if...?' is the idea that the unknown actress really is a witch. How would 'real life' resemble the series? So far, so good.

The next great idea is the casting. Will Ferrell has had a successful career as a comedian and an impersonater on the popular Saturday Night Live. His transition to the movies in such enjoyable films as Elf and Anchorman means that he can do both serious and funny - and his funny can be both charming and obnoxious. The Ephron sisters give him plenty of opportunity for his comic talent.

However, the star is Nicole Kidman. She has been a star, in Australia twenty years ago as a child actress, and in the last decade proving she is very versatile. Think Moulin Rouge and her Oscar-winning performance as Virginia Woolf in The Hours. Here she is at her delightful best.

She resembles the original Samantha, Elizabeth Montgomery, in looks, in the comic light touch and in her ability to wiggle her nose before some magic moments. She is Isobel, a young witch who is trying to escape her family and community, eager to become human and normal, not relying on magic tricks and spells to get along. Because her self-esteem is so low, she wants to get a job. Ferrell sees her wiggle her nose and she is cast.

One should add that Michael Caine has a very good role as Isobel's suave warlock father and Shirley Mac Laine is an actress with an overpowering ego who portrays in the series. (We are shown a scene with Agnes Moorhead to remind us of the old days.) Caine has a lot of good ironic lines and Mac Laine (who has been an enthusiast for experiences beyond this realm) parodies herself.

What is surprising is how often there are good laughs right throughout the film. Sometimes it is funny lines (often at the expense of television and American taste). Sometimes it is slapstick pratfalls. Sometimes it is the humorous situations, especially when Isobel discovers that the star that she wants to fall in love with because he needs her is on an ego-trip and she exercises her arts and spells. Ferrell has a good scene where he is supposed to say a line about his love for a dog and goes through a variety of funny variations.

Bewitched is not going to be on anyone's list of the greatest films of all time. However, it is a very pleasing way of passing 100 minutes.

1. The popularity of the television series over many decades? Repeats? Audience familiarity? The stars, the themes of witches, magic? The musical score?

2. This film using clips from the old series to ground the remake? Taking the plot and atmosphere from the original? The tribute to Elizabeth Montgomery and the stars?

3. The decision to make the film not as a remake but as an update, rethinking? The issues of casting it, producing it? And what if the actress were in fact a witch?

4. The quality of the comedy, verbal, visual? Will Ferrell and his range of impersonations, the good and bad Jack? The slapstick? Nicole Kidman and the situation, her spells, her timing? Dialogue and with, the comedy of Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine? Poking fun at television, agents, Hollywood?

5. The film as bewitching and beguiling? Nicole Kidman as Isobel, the issue of her self-esteem, not wanting to be a witch, her relationship with her father, wanting to save Jack, falling in love?

6. Audience interest in witches, magic? The light touch, the unreality of witchcraft when presented comically?

7. Isobel and her aims, not to be a witch, to be normal, to have human experiences? Her buying the house, making it available? The magic touches inside the house? Breakfast and her moving the clock? Her new car? Her father’s appearance, her relationship with him? Their discussions – the rain, the umbrella, one last trick? Her bewilderment about television cables and needing magic to connect them?

8. Isobel as ingenuous, charming, the light touch, her appearance, clothes, manner of speaking, discovering human experiences, having to open cans? Her friends, her jumping up and down with excitement but not knowing why…? Getting the actress role, television? Her watching programs on self-esteem, buying books about self-improvement? And her twitching her nose?

9. The situation for Jack, his career in a rut, the glimpses of his previous films, the continuous reference to failure? His relationship with Richie? Richie as the dominant agent? The meeting about Bewitched? His being meek, Richie urging him to be tough, laying on the toughness, the bargaining, wanting an unknown to star? The audition, Isobel’s improvisation – but her being real and they being in admiration? Jack seeing her twitch her nose in the bookshop? Persuading her to do the audition? The groups and their acclamation? Her accepting the job? The press conference, Jack introducing himself, hogging the limelight, the small attention given to Isobel? Iris and her arrival and taking over?

10. The shooting of the series, the crew, their attitude towards Jack, the focus of every scene on him? Isobel and her being put aside? Iris and her strong presence? Isobel overhearing the conversation between Jack and Richie, misinterpreting it? Her decision to one-up him? The importance of the scene with the dog, the variety of jokes, the variety of voices that Jack had to use? His inability to control himself? His response to the surveys and their acclaim for Isobel and not for him?

11. Nina, her work with Jack, disliking him? (Echoing the girl at the restaurant despising him at the beginning?) Maria, her becoming a friend with Isobel? The sharing of attitudes, the sharing of dislikes of Jack? The aunt’s arrival, her hex on Jack? Her having to swallow?

12. Jack as obnoxious, the dog line, the coffee and his bullying? Isobel quitting?

13. The reverse, Jack being nice, Isobel returning? His exercising his charm? The comedy of the change of attitude?

14. Nigel, his situation, a warlock? His turning up at unexpected times, his discussions with his daughter? Flirting with Maria? The arguments, the differences with Isobel’s mother? Meeting Iris, her spells, his flirtation? The comic romance?

15. Richie, the Hollywood agent, his macho beliefs and style, putting pressure on Jack, his comeuppance?

16. The glimpse of the writers, the director, having to pander to Jack? The ratings?

17. The end, Isobel and Jack as nice, home, the gifts, the meal, the talking? The device for Isobel’s spells and the rewinding of what had happened?

18. Uncle Arthur, the TV past, the nightmare, his advice?

19. Six months afterwards, happy ever after? An engaging comedy?