What is it about Richard Curtis playing about with time?
First we had Domhnall Gleeson's character discovering that men in his family could travel through time in 'About Time'.
Then there was Himesh Patel's musician in Danny Boyle's 'Yesterday' waking up from a coma in a world where The Beatles never existed.
Now he's at it again, penning 'Genie' in which Melissa McCarthy's 2,000 year old genie travels through time granting wishes.
'Genie' centres, though, on Pappa Essiedu's Bernard, a stressed out and overworked Englishman working in a New York auction house.
A mild mannered bloke, he's under pressure thanks to his greedy, narcissistic boss, Alun Cumming's Mr Flaxman.
However Bernard is also under pressure at home.
He needs to make his eight year old, Jordyn McIntosh's Eve's birthday.
Having missed a few family events recently, he risks incurring the wrath of his wife, Denee Benton's Julie.
Grabbing a giant teddy, he's about to leave work when he runs into Mr Flaxman who foists a prospective customer on him.
Delayed as a result, he eventually mounts his bike and flies home to his apartment, dropping the teddy en route.
Realising that he needs a new present, Bernard improvises and grabs an antique box but the gift underwhelms Eve.
Julie is so angry she announces she's decided to separate for a while, taking Eve with her to stay with her mum.
Gutted, Bernard tells Mr Flaxman the next day he cannot work like he has been and is promptly fired.
Out of work and facing a glum Christmas without his wife and daughter, Bernard sits in dejection in his flat.
Noticing some dust on the antique box he tried to gift Eve, he starts to rub it off.
Hey Presto! Melissa McCarthy's Flora Gwendolyn Lockheed Firepit McCallister, a genie who has been trapped inside the box for centuries, surfaces to grant unlimited wishes to those who rub the box.
At first Bernard is sceptical but when Flora proves she can grant wishes, he's hooked.
Bernard and the genie immediately hit it off with him introducing her to the joys of pizza, Tom Cruise movies and pop music.
She helps him travel immediately to where Julie is staying with her mum and then spirits up a remarkable doll's house for Eve when his wife allows her to stay over in his apartment.
All of this is well and good but can Flora help Bernard devise a plan to win back Julie in time for Christmas?
How will they achieve that?
Directed by Sam Boyd, 'Genie' is a typically handsome Curtis penned comedy.
However it shares another trait of a lot of Curtis comedies - it's incredibly bland.
Essiedu and McCarthy have shown in the past they are talented performers.
However not even they can liven up what is a very dull comedy.
Riddled with seasonal New York cliches - shots of the Rockefeller Center ice rink and a shopping spree in a Manhattan department store, anyone? - it's limp and it's almost comatose.
Everyone just goes through the motions whether it is Essiedu, McCarthy or Marc Maron as a chatty doorman, trotting out feeble gags that barely raise a smile.
A ridiculous and frankly unnecessary side-plot involving the Mona Lisa unfolds unconvincingly.
And when the wonderful Luis Guzman turns up as a tired cop, not even he can electrify this staggeringly lazy comedy.
The film's so lazy, neither Boyd nor Curtis seem bothered by the fact that their genie has never heard of pizza yet seems really familiar with credit cards.
Benton isn't helped by Julie appearing unnecessarily hard on Bernard, even when he goes to considerable lengths to unite his family - despite moaning to her mum that that is exactly what he must do.
Cumming is wasted in essentially a one note role.
Maron, Benton, Guzman and others just crunch through the gears.
'Genie,' it has to be said, isn't the worst Festive Season movie.
However it's a long way from being the best.
© Peacock, Universal Pictures, Sky Cinema & NowTVIt's also not even the worst Richard Curtis penned movie.
However he can still do better.
It's time Curtis ditched the fairytale gimmicks.
In fact it's time he created something with a bit more comic bite.
('Genie' was released on Peacock in the US on November 22, 2023 and on Sky Cinema and NowTV on December 1, 2023)
What is it about Richard Curtis and playing about with time?
First we had Domhnall Gleeson's character discovering the men in his family could travel through time in 'About Time'.
Then it was Himesh Patel's musician in Danny Boyle's 'Yesterday' waking up from a coma in a world where The Beatles never existed.
Now he's at it again, penning 'Genie' in which Melissa McCarthy's 2,000 year old genie travels through time granting wishes.
'Genie' centres, though, on Pappa Essiedu's Bernard, a stressed out and overworked Englishman working in a New York auction house.
A mild mannered bloke, he's under pressure thanks to his greedy, narcissistic boss, Alun Cumming's Mr Flaxman.
However Bernard is also under pressure at home.
He needs to make his eight year old, Jordyn McIntosh's Eve's birthday.
Having missed a few family events, he risks incurring the wrath of his wife, Denee Benton's Julie.
Grabbing a giant teddy, he's about to leave work when he runs into Mr Flaxman who foists a prospective customer on him.
Delayed as a result, he eventually mounts his bike and flies home to his apartment, dropping the teddy en route.
Realising he needs a present, Bernard improvises and grabs an antique box but his gift underwhelms Eve.
Julie is so furious she announces she's decided to separate for a while, taking Eve with her to stay with her mum.
Gutted, Bernard tells Mr Flaxman the next day he cannot work like he has been and is promptly fired.
Out of work and facing a glum Christmas without his wife and daughter, Bernard sits in dejection in his flat.
Noticing some dust on the antique box he tried to gift Eve, he moves to rub it off.
Hey Presto! This unleashes Melissa McCarthy's Flora Gwendolyn Lockheed Firepit McCallister, a genie who has been trapped inside the box for decades but occasionally shd surfaces to grant unlimited wishes to those who rub the box only to eventually return.
At first Bernard is sceptical but when Flora proves she can grant wishes, he's hooked.
Bernard and his genie immediately hit it off with him introducing her to the joys of pizza, Tom Cruise movies and pop music.
She helps him travel immediately to where Julie is staying with her mum and then spirits up a remarkable doll's house for Eve when his wife allows her to stay over in his apartment.
All of this is well and good
Comments
Post a Comment