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Genie
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Genie
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Summary
Seasonal fantasy comedy starring Melissa McCarthy and Paapa Essiedu. Workaholic Bernard is having a pretty bad Christmas: his wife has left him, he's been fired and he's all alone. But things take a surprising turn when he unwittingly releases a genie from a jewellery box and is granted unlimited wishes. Could Bernard be about to get his life back together?
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Review
A star rating of 3 out of 5.
Terry Staunton
Magic saves the day in this heartstring-tugging Christmas fable scripted by Richard Curtis (Love Actually). Paapa Essiedu stars as despondent husband and father Bernard, who frees genie Flora (Melissa McCarthy) from her jewellery box prison, where she's been trapped for 2,000 years. With unlimited wishes at his disposal, Bernard sets out to turn his life around - and win back his family. Curtis's screenplay is adapted from his own 1991 BBC TV film Bernard and the Genie, but with arguably more festive tropes at play. The narrative contains little in the way of surprises, and viewers will easily predict what waits around each corner. However, that doesn't detract from the stellar leads. Essiedu brings plenty of emotional depth to the put-upon Bernard, though he's ultimately the straight man to McCarthy, who delivers a joyously over-the-top performance as the magical fish-out-of-water.
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5.9/10
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Credits
Cast
rolenameFloraMelissa McCarthyBernard BottlePaapa EssieduJulieDenée BentonFlaxmanAlan CummingLennyMarc MaronDetective PerezLuis Guzmán
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Crew
rolenameDirectorSam Boyd
Details
Released on
2023-12-01
Languages
English
Guidance
Swearing.
Formats
Colour
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