Godmothered Movie Review: A fantasy comedy, but not exactly Enchanting

Isla Fisher in Godmothered (Picture courtesy/PR)

Film: Godmothered
Cast: June Squibb, Jillian Bell, Isla Fisher, Santiago Cabrera, Sonia Manzano, Willa Skye, Jillian Shea Spaeder, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Utkarsh Ambudkar
Director: Sharon Maguire
Rating:
Runtime: 110 mins

Though Disney generated, this re-envisioned fantasy doesn't have the magical accoutrements of a Disney showboat. The film is a little too threadbare, politically correct and matter-of-fact for that.

It's an unreal world where Fairy Godmothers have their own Instruction manuals and training institution but the perspective is more realistic because a new trainee Jillian Bell's Eleanor, the youngest, earnest and rather inept one in the died-in-the-wool group, is earnestly hoping to change the world into a happily-ever-after even though her decadent peers have already given up on keeping alive that fantasy.

The now comatose business has reached a point where the only alternative is to transfigure into a Tooth Fairy enterprise. So Eleanor breaks out to go in search of a 10 year old Mackenzie whose request for help was ignored. But Eleanor is almost 2 decades late because Mackenzie (Isla Fisher as the adult) is now a cynical, unromantic widow with two daughters and a precarious livelihood to keep going. Eleanor tries to get her to be enchanted again but her bumbling and fumbling with spells along the way ensure that Mackenzie takes the long route to enchantment again.

Check out the trailer of Godmothered here:

This film is a fairly good attempt to break away from the conformist traditions of the 'Fairytale.' The humor may not be consistent enough to deem it an entertaining comedy but the attempt is clearly well-meaning and the effort to realistically portray romantic relationships is more than welcome. The writing and direction are a little off so much of Bell's comedic effort is lost in the unviable pacing, slack emotional cadence and generic malaise.

Writers Melissa Stack and Kari Granlund keep the plot pointed towards reawakening the family bond and valuing of existing relationships so the brief foray into possible romance robs the film of its radical intent. The pace is rather ploddy and heavy going and the special effects seem a little too cheesy so the expected allure is also sorely missing here.

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