Genie – An Instantly Forgettable Christmas Comedy

Genie is a new Christmas fantasy comedy that recently hit streamers (Peacock in the US and Prime Video in Canada) featuring Melissa McCarthy in the titular role and was also written by Richard Curtis of Love Actually and Notting Hill fame. The film is a fairy tale comedy about a man named Bernard (Paapa Essiedu), a workaholic who enlists the help of a magical genie named Flora (McCarthy) to help win his family back before Christmas and in turn, learn some important lessons about himself and life along the way. If not for McCarthy and the Universal logo that at the start of the film, it has all the makings of a Hallmark or Lifetime channel film and likely would’ve landed on either had it not had the kind of talent that it does. While there isn’t anything overly bad or offensive about it, there’s a good reason why the film was not given a theatrical release and does feel like something made for streaming, for better or worse.

McCarthy is an insanely talented actress who has gotten a lot of unearned and excessive hate over the years, so it’s no surprise at all to say that she’s easily the best part of Genie and the only reason to watch it. She elevates the film every chance she gets (which sadly isn’t as often as one would hope) and although she’s given some incredibly weak material to work with, she makes the most of it and any enjoyment to be found in the film is solely of her making. Though her schtick might be getting old for some and she, for the most part, channels much of the same here, she dials it back and completely commits to Flora every step of the way. Meanwhile, Essiedu is fine as Bernard and makes for a good straight man to McCarthy’s more exuberant Genie character. In the end, solid chemistry between both actors makes Bernard and Flora’s quieter moments together the best and most tender scenes in the film.

The fish-out-of-water stuff angle as Flora is faced with the present day world provides a few good chuckles, and it’s not without it’s charming and heartfelt moments, but it’s a real shame that it brings absolutely nothing new to the table. McCarthy tries her best, however, she is stuck inside of an instantly forgettable Christmas comedy that doesn’t give her much to work with or do. Despite a good yet familiar setup, none of the emotions work or feel earned, getting way too schmaltzy and sentimental as it goes on while most of the humor fails to land. Coming out of leftfield, a baffling third act that feels so out of place following everything that came before or what comes after. This direction almost suggests that the filmmakers may have ran out of ideas and came up with this random time killer so that the film could hit the 90-minute mark.

As mentioned, while there isn’t anything terrible about Genie, unless one is a diehard fan of Christmas films and make it a mission to see every new one they can, it is merely a giant waste of time and isn’t worth a watch this holiday season. The film is too overly simple, formulaic, and the ultimate lack of an emotional connection with it and its characters causes it to ring hollow. Having virtually no promotion whatsoever before being unceremoniously buried on streaming platforms, it is likely to continue flying under the radar. However, for those who bother to dig it out of the deep hole it was put in, it fails to deliver anything remotely close to being memorable. It is absolutely insane to think romcom master Richard Curtis wrote this and attached his name to it. Outside of a few charming moments and clever jokes, none of his fingerprints are on this.

still courtesy of Peacock

If you liked this, please read our other reviews here and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Instagram or like us on Facebook.

Connor Carey

www.connorsmoviereviews.com/