On DVD: Bewitched

Let me say a couple of things right off the bat. Will Ferrell has always been just marginally funny in my opinion and Nicole Kidman is one of the finest actresses in Hollywood today. I was intrigued to see how these two would mesh in a remake of the very popular television series "Bewitched". The whole charm of the television show was Elizabeth Montgomery being the grounding force in a wacky world of characters, Doctor Bombay, Uncle Arthur and Endora to name a few. Montgomery's Samantha just wanted to live a normal life with a mortal that she fell in love with and the aforementioned characters wanted her to embrace her "witch" side a little more. That's the television show, the movie however misses the point.
Ferrell plays a washed up movie star that decides to remake "Bewitched", to highlight himself on the show he casts an unknown as Samantha, that unknown is a real life witch played by Kidman. This promising plot never develops into anything more than an excuse for Ferrell to display his silly over the top antics while dissing then falling in love with Kidman. Kidman for whatever reason whispers through most of the film and is frozen in an aloof childish posture that becomes annoying real fast.
Shirley McClaine as Endora and Michael Caine as Kidman's father cannot rescue the uneven script and awkward pacing that bog this film down and eventually make it a sub par remake of an adored television series.

On DVD: The Gift ( 2000)

Cate Blanchett stars as a small town poor girl that makes a living reading Tarot cards. Her talents are put to the test when she is asked to help locate the body and killer of young girl from the towns high society crowd. The movie also stars Hilary Swank and Keanu Reeves, that's right Keanu Reeves.
For those of you still reading "The Gift" is a slow paced appalachian drama that speeds up half way through and turns out to be a pretty intense and interesting movie. It was written by Billy Bob Thornton and has the pacing and dialogue of his classic " A Simple Plan". Simple Plan Director Sam Raimi also directs " The Gift". Raimi and Thornton have the small town atmosphere and interactions down pat in the film as they did in the aforementioned simple plan. J.K. Simmons ( Oz) shows up and shows off as the Sheriff and steals each scene he's in, as usual. While it's hard to believe that the same guy that directed Spider Man directed this movie but with "The Gift" Raimi must feel right at home. He eases us in to the awkward Camelot and invites us to enjoy the sinister undercurrent that lies within. Not a gem but "The Gift" will do on a cold winter night.

Note: Check out "A Simple Plan" if you haven't already done so, one of Raimi's best. ( besides Spiderman of course)

On DVD: The Island

The Island stars Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson as two people living in a domed society somewhere in the future. It appears the society is well planned and organized if not a little mundane and the only relief is a trip to “The Island”. The Island is the last place on earth that hasn’t been destroyed by the unnamed apocalyptic event that necessitated the creation of the domed society. The only way to get to the Island is to win a random lottery; we find out however that the Island isn’t all its cracked up to be. Our hero and heroine are then on the run and the mayhem begins.

Michael Bay (Bad Boys, The Rock, Pearl Harbor) directs the adventure and provides enough action and destruction for two films. This is not a bad thing though, Bay has a unique and creative way of filming action sequences and chase scenes and it works well in this film. McGregor and Johansson are little more than window dressing for Bay’s action but both do respectable and believable work. McGregor does particularly well when he has to play a dual role and basically interact with himself. Steve Buscemi shows up briefly and as usual does a great job as a secondary character.

The Island is a fun fast paced action adventure well suited for DVD. If I had seen it in the theater I would have been a little less enthused.