On Wednesday, November 22, Peacock released Genie, a Christmas comedy with fantasy elements starring Melissa McCarthy. This is a remake of the 1991 British television movie Bernard and the Genie. The script for both films was written by the famous filmmaker Richard Curtis. In the review below, we will tell you whether the author of Love Actually was able to convey the fairy-tale spirit of Christmas through the movie screen this time.
Bernard, who was busy at work, was on his way home when his boss made him give an unplanned presentation. As a result, he missed his 8-year-old daughter Eva’s birthday party and, late to the party, gave her the first item he found on the shelf, carelessly wrapped in a plain bag. Unable to tolerate such mockery, Bernard’s wife Julie quickly packed up and left for her mother’s house, leaving the grieving greeter in proud loneliness.
One day, the upset Bernard comes across Eva’s “gift” – a box that was obviously purchased in an antique shop. Before he knows it, a strange lady appears in front of him, introducing herself as a real genie named Flora. A live camel as a proof of her words proves to be a convincing argument, and Bernard is already thinking about how to use his new opportunities to get back what he has lost. But it seems that when it comes to human relationships, any magic will be powerless.
The authors of Genie, and Richard Curtis in particular, turned their attention to an old British TV movie that few people remember today, and for some reason decided to make an American remake. The screenwriter of Notting Hill, Bridget Jones’s Diary, and many other well-known projects, as well as the author of the Christmas hit Love Actually, took up the script this time.
Since the role of the genie implied a lot of fun and jokes, it was rightly entrusted to the famous comedian Melissa McCarthy, who is able to give the necessary energy to even mediocre comedies. Well, this one turned out to be about that. No matter how shining McCarthy was in the frame, she couldn’t save the movie from complete mediocrity.
Some of the interesting differences are: a fondness for hamburgers instead of the local pizza; a cartoonishly funny doorman, of which there is no trace in the remake, and the worship of Tom Cruise with his “Mission” that replaced “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.”
Along with Curtis, Alan Cumming, who played the title role of Bernard in the original film, did not disdain to take part in the remake. Here, he was given a cameo role as an evil Dickensian rich man, previously played by Rowan Atkinson, another regular in Curtis’ projects, with whom the writer and director began collaborating in the late 70s.
Given the situation in which the protagonist found himself and its outcome, it becomes obvious that the guy needed not the help of a genie, but not the Time Stone – not for nothing that the local doorman was constantly talking about the multiverse.
In fact, everyone understands the simple moral of such stories: no magic can help you draw the right conclusions about your own mistakes until you come to that conclusion yourself. Only the magic of a Christmas movie has a chance to influence you. But the latter does not apply to the current opus.
Verdict
“Genie” has become another seasonal product of the streaming services’ assembly line production, which even its creators will not remember tomorrow. Not to mention the audience.
