Just in case you're not sick enough of remakes of old TV shows, here's Bewitched, part remake and part film about a remake. Rather than just being a big-screen version of the classic 1960s sitcom, with Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell as Samantha and Darrin, Kidman and Ferrell portray Isabel Bigelow and Jack Wyatt, two actors starring in a Bewitched modernization. Coincidentally, Isabel actually is a witch with a romantic interest in Jack, which makes their off-screen relationship parallel their on-screen marriage.
Confused yet? Just wait. At one point, Isabel's clumsy Aunt Clara (Carole Shelley) enters the picture. Samantha from the old TV show had a clumsy Aunt Clara also, but this isn't the same one. By the end, even the film can't be sure anymore whether it's an homage or a remake. And when Steve Carell finally shows up as Uncle Frank, it's unclear whether he's a real witch who also played a witch on the show, a figment of a fan's imagination, or a convenient but incredibly unlikely plot device. And if you don't already know who Uncle Frank is from the old show, then don't even try to understand.
All the confusion is probably a deliberate smoke screen to distract viewers from a saccharine and weak love story. Ferrell does his best to provide the laughs and deserves much of the credit for what little entertainment there is, but when called upon to be a genuine romantic lead, he's just disturbing. It doesn't help that Jack's selfish, oafish personality isn't the least bit attractive, which requires Isabel to have this implausible "thing" for screwed-up guys.
What could make the film even more convoluted? Let's add into the cauldron not one, but two scenes where massive portions of the film are simply erased by witchcraft-assisted time travel (just in case the audience was getting close to connecting with that emotional through-line). And finally, let's throw in an extra plot involving a bizarre love affair between Michael Caine and Shirley MacLaine simply to forget about it, and them, in the last 20 minutes.
Despite some good gags performed by Ferrell and the special- effects department, Bewitched is far from bewitching. It's more like a hex—though not the kind that turns you into a frog. That actually would've been nice since some of the love scenes make you want to croak.