Genie (2023)

“I wish that you did….“

Swooping into the holiday season with little more than a puff of magical smoke, 2023’s Genie has been available on the Peacock streaming service since the end of November. Sadly, there hasn’t been much talk about this light family comedy starring Melissa McCarthy and Paapa Essiedu. It seems to have been pushed to the back of the Christmas movie line, unable to make a large enough impact to enter conversations that feature classic films like It’s A Wonderful Life and more recent fare such as Elf.

Genie is a remake of Richard Curtis’ Bernard and the Genie, a made-for-TV British film from 1991. Much like that film, this movie feels like a made-for-TV movie. Unlike it, this film is backed by the budget power of Universal Studios. This film could have easily found its way to the Hallmark Channel with a cast loaded with 90s soap opera stars or a female lead culled from ABC’s old TGIF Friday sitcom lineup. Instead we get Melissa McCarthy giving a standard McCarthy “fish out of water” acting routine as Flora, a genie, coupled with the straight man character of Bernard, portrayed by Paapa Essiedu. The duo work extremely well together and this keeps the movie from falling into full Hallmark Channel mode.

In the movie, Essiedu plays a father who has lost his family and his job and tries to regain his wife and daughter with the help of a sweet but very goofy genie. Along for the ride in supporting roles are Luis Guzman, Alan Cumming, Ego Nwodim, Denee Benton, and Jordyn McIntosh. Marc Maron also appears as Lenny, the doorman at Bernard’s apartment complex, who also provides a little bit of a romantic angle for McCarthy’s Flora. As Bernard wishes his way back into his family’s life, he causes problems for himself. Flora acclimates to modern society, develops a massive crush on Tom Cruise, and causes even more trouble for Bernard with every wish that she grants.

This is a very light family comedy with only a few strong words. In fact, little Eve, Bernard’s daughter, has two of the strongest words in the film. Other than those two moments, however, Genie is pretty safe for all of the family to watch.

Genie isn’t a bad film. Just don’t expect too much and you and your family will have a new film to add to your Christmas viewing rotation.

Thanks for checking out my review. See you again real soon!