Mediocre And Dull || Review Of Genie (2023)

12 months ago

I found another Christmas movie on my streaming site and after seeing it, I'm lost for words because it seems Hollywood has run out of new ideas for comedy shows. This one features the lovely comedian, Melissa McCarthy and that's why I downloaded it. Her co-actor is new to me and his performance is a little cringy.

Genie (2023) is an American Christmas comedy-fantasy movie set in New York at Christmas time. It's focused on Bernard (played by Paapa Essiedu) who works at an art auction office. He's a workaholic and forgets his daughter's eighth birthday. His wife decides to take a break from their marriage and travels with her daughter to her mother's house. Bernard is sad, goes to his boss (played by Alan Cummings) to complain and gets fired from his job. He's lost his job, family and his Christmas spirit.

While at home, Bernard picks up an antique jewel box, rubs it and a genie, Flora Gwendolyn Lockheed Firepit McCallister (played by Melissa McCarthy), pops out with some dramatic flare. She's been locked up for more than 2,000 years and asks Bernard to make his wishes. What will Bernard's wishes be? Will the genie from millennials be able to restore this young man's holiday spirit?

Review

The plot is a familiar one, typical of most Christmas movies, about a workaholic husband and father who loses or almost loses his family and then works hard to get them back. However, the filmmakers' attempt to make this film a different from others by incorporating a fantasy element—the genie—which makes it a little interesting.

The storytelling is not bad and the character development is lacking. The opening scenes are a little hasty, in my opinion. Bernard loses his family for the holiday, next thing we see, a talkative genie appears and wishes begin to flow like water. So when the two characters get to know one another, it appears superficial and unrealistic to me. As I begin to enjoy the two together, the movie ends.

A cringe-worthy part of this film is the random scenes thrown in for purposes of comedy. I failed to see the jokes. They all fall flat and highlight a poorly written script. It was painful watching them. Rather than come up with amusing and witty lines, they resort to mocking Jesus Christ and Christianity which is typical of modern American flicks. Still on the subject of the script, most Christmas flicks don’t include art theft subplots but this movie does. I've no idea what the director was hoping to achieve but it doesn't seem to work.

The acting could be better. I must say Paapa Essiedu was terrible! I'm not sure if it was the script or bad directing but I cringe whenever the camera is pointed towards this actor. His chemistry with Denée Benton, his on-screen wife was off, like they were forced together.

On the other hand, Melissa McCarthy was impressive as always. She brings some sunshine and fun to the dull and wooden acting of her co-actor, Paapa Essiedu. Their pairing is very odd which forces Melissa to bear the entire burden of entertaining the audience. I expected more from Alan Cumming but was disappointed.

Overall, I'll say Genie lacks the dazzle and charm it needs to hold its audience's attention. I so much want to give this film a positive review because of Melissa McCarthy but the energy is not enough to resuscitate this dull flick. I'll not recommend this film but if you're a Melissa McCarthy fan and won't mind, then go ahead and see it.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

^{Other images are screenshots from the movie}

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