This is my second Christmas movie review for the year of 2023, it’s not a very promising year for Christmas movies besides The Holdovers, which automatically became an instant holiday classic and comedy. Starting off this Christmas season with Dashing Through The Snow was not as pleasant as it could be… but hey! Genie is actually fun, and will definitely take out some laughs of you.
Genie is a fairy-tale comedy about a workaholic man who enlists the help of a magical genie to help win his family back before Christmas. The movie is a remake of the 1991 British television film Bernard and the Genie, written by Richard Curtis.
The movie stars Melissa McCarthy as Flora, the genie who has been stuck inside a jewellery box for thousands of years, and Paapa Essiedu as Bernard, the man who accidentally releases her and gets unlimited wishes. The movie also features Alan Cumming, who played Bernard in the original TV movie, as Flaxman, Bernard’s boss, it’s also directed by Sam Boyd and written by Richard Curtis.
I’ve seen three Christmas movies this year so far: Dashing Through The Snow, Genie, and Candy Cane Lane… If you ask me which one was my favorite I’d not say it’s Genie, but if you ask me which one was the worst I’d also not say Genie… so let’s say that this movie is right in the middle between these two other movies I watched (obs: make sure to read my review for Candy Cane Lane dropping on November 30, there’s a lot to talk about that one…)
Genie feels generic at all aspects, but is a movie that, doesn’t matter what, has a heart and the characters have their charisma and are well developed. The main character, Bernard, is a nice man with a good heart but unfortunately, due to his job, he is not able to spend the time he should with his family. His wife gets mad at him for not being present, and she ends up “leaving” him. Bernard suddenly finds a box that if you wipe your hand it’ll suddenly surge a genie.
What I definitely didn’t like about this movie is its randomness, the script is so lazy sometimes that is so annoying at some points of the movie, it tried to find the easiest way possible to solve a certain problem, without searching for any type of creativity when doing so or nothing alike.
The characters are definitely something this movie should be proud of, they have a connection and they act like real friends, Bernard and Genie relationship is real and it’s so evident. They become best friends in a matter of minutes and I’m glad it worked out.
Melissa McCarthy is a very complicated actress, I love her job in many movies but 99.9% of her movies are usually not very good but of course it has its exceptions like The Little Mermaid, Spy, and even Ghostbusters, which I think they were pretty much enjoyable and fun movies.
Different than most genies, in this movie the guy has unlimited wishes, but of course he chooses the dumbest wishes ever, he could literally wish anything in this world and chose dumb things that won’t even help with his current problem.
This movie is not bad, is actually so funny, all the storyline of Monalisa and how it was accidentally robbed, it was so good, a total highlight for this movie. Watch the movie and you’ll get it better, I’ll try to avoid spoilers for you.
This film has Christmas magic, when I watched this movie I felt my heart warming and that’s all I want from a Christmas movies to be honest. Definitely a movie you should check it out during this weekend!
Genie might not be innovative but still manages to enjoy even with its lazy script. It’s a cute, heart-warming movie that is perfect for all ages. The chemistry of the cast is great to check out on screen, the emotional beats hit hard. Such a delicious film.
★★★
Genie releases on Peacock on November 22
