Bewitched (2005) * *

Directed by:  Nora Ephron

Starring:  Nicole Kidman, Will Ferrell, Shirley MacLaine, Michael Caine, Kristen Chenoweth, Jason Schwartzman

Bewitched is sort of based on the late 60's TV series which starred Elizabeth Montgomery as a witch who marries a normal guy and tries to live a normal life in the suburbs.     Nora Ephron's Bewitched is about a real witch who is hired to play a witch on a reboot of the original series.     It has some laughs and charming performances, but it never ascends to anything wonderful in particular.    We're left with some cleverness, but it seems many great comic opportunities were left on the table.

The witch in question is Isabel (Kidman), who wants to leave her witchdom behind and start life as a normal woman.    Her father (Caine), doesn't approve, but she is determined to try to get things done without simply having to snap her fingers.     Meanwhile, movie star Jack Wyatt (Ferrell) is reeling from recent box-office flops and is approached to star in a remake of Bewitched.     The egomaniacal Jack agrees and behaves on set with a whole lot of star attitude.     He even sets up a cappuccino machine just for himself.      He discovers Isabel in a Hollywood cafe and convinces her to join the show as the witch Samantha, not knowing of course that Isabel is a real witch.     He does this because an unknown actress wouldn't be a threat to his star power and gives her practically no lines even know she has a lead role.

Once Isabel discovers that Jack's ploy, she decides to forego the original plan of giving up witchcraft and humiliating Jack at every turn.     This includes putting spells on him, some of which don't work as well as others.     But mysteriously, probably because the script requires them to, the two fall in love.     The love angle follows the familiar pattern of "Boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, misunderstanding, temporary break-up, and then they're back together as the end credits roll."     Despite Kidman's and Ferrell's easy likability, they don't generate much chemistry.   

Ferrell manages to be likable even when he playing a complete narcissist, while Kidman is beautiful and has a smile to die for.    She also is able to wrinkle her nose better than all of the other actresses who audition for her part.     But I wasn't able to get a strong feeling one way or another about Bewitched.     There are some amusing scenes involving some knocks on Hollywood and with MacLaine as a glory-hogging co-star who may also be a witch, but after it was all said and done I felt that we've seen it all before...and better.    Especially from Nora Ephron.