During the holiday season, Art Dealer Bernard Bottle (Alan Cumming) is seemingly on top of the world having made a major London firm 50 million Pounds due to his findings. However when Bernard meets with his boss, Pinkworth (Rowan Atkinson) and voices his desire to give half the proceeds from the sales to elderly women he procured the works from, Pinkworth responds by firing Bernard and blacklisting him from the other art handling intermediaries. With his grim employment future, Bernard's day only gets worse when he finds that his girlfriend is cheating on him with his best friend and steals most of the possessions in Bernard's flat. When polishing an old oil lamp Bernard received as a gift, the act releases Josephus (Lenny Henry), a 2000 year old Arabian knife thrower who was imprisoned in the lamp by a vengeful sorcerer. Following some misunderstandings, Josephus and Bernard become friends with Bernard showing Josephus the marvels of the modern world while Josephus helps Bernard rebuild his shattered life.
A small TV movie from 1991, the movie comes from director Paul Weiland in a massive comeback from his disastrous Bill Cosby vehicle Leonard Part 6 and writer Richard Curtis of Blackadder and Mr. Bean. Curtis was driven to write the fantasy comedy following a viewing of an Agatha Christie adaptation that left him depressed, and the end result was Bernard and the Genie. The movie takes a familiar but rich "wish fulfillment" premise and through the comic talent behind and in front of the camera results in an entertaining and endearing comedy with a festive core.
The film marks Alan Cummings first major starring role, and Cumming deservedly received critical accolades for his performance as Bernard Bottle, a well intentioned man who finds himself fighting against backstabbing opportunists on both a personal and professional level with his only source of levity coming from elevator operator, Kepple, who often tells sad lies about his own life to cheer Bernard up in a very amusing portrayal by Denis Lill. Lenny Henry is very funny and energetic as Josephus the genie and makes a wonderful foil for the more down to earth Bernard with his exuberance and lust for life making him an endearing figure in the film. Both Henry and Cumming have great chemistry doing seemingly mundane activities by modern standards that from Josephus' point of view are revelatory. Rowan Atkinson is entertainingly despicable as Pinkworth, even if admittedly it recycles some of Atkinson's Blackadder persona, but in terms of how it fits into the movie it lends itself to some nice comic gags.
The plot is pretty episodic with most of the movie consisting of relatively self-contained situations of Bernard and Josephus just going about their day. There's no real limit on the wishes with the only rule they establish being the wishes can't change someone's feelings nor is there much of a conflict driving the narrative. The movie is a very relaxed sit of these characters interacting with each other and because they're such charismatic and likable presences they really don't need to manufacture any conflicts or "nadirs" in the film to artificially inflate the drama.
Bernard and the Genie is an enjoyable sit thanks to the strong writing by Richard Curtis, tight direction of Paul Weiland, and energy and charisma of its cast. Alan Cumming makes a strong debut as a leading man and Lenny Henry owns the scene with his comic energy. The movie is a great small scale character based comedy to put on during the seasons.
A small TV movie from 1991, the movie comes from director Paul Weiland in a massive comeback from his disastrous Bill Cosby vehicle Leonard Part 6 and writer Richard Curtis of Blackadder and Mr. Bean. Curtis was driven to write the fantasy comedy following a viewing of an Agatha Christie adaptation that left him depressed, and the end result was Bernard and the Genie. The movie takes a familiar but rich "wish fulfillment" premise and through the comic talent behind and in front of the camera results in an entertaining and endearing comedy with a festive core.
The film marks Alan Cummings first major starring role, and Cumming deservedly received critical accolades for his performance as Bernard Bottle, a well intentioned man who finds himself fighting against backstabbing opportunists on both a personal and professional level with his only source of levity coming from elevator operator, Kepple, who often tells sad lies about his own life to cheer Bernard up in a very amusing portrayal by Denis Lill. Lenny Henry is very funny and energetic as Josephus the genie and makes a wonderful foil for the more down to earth Bernard with his exuberance and lust for life making him an endearing figure in the film. Both Henry and Cumming have great chemistry doing seemingly mundane activities by modern standards that from Josephus' point of view are revelatory. Rowan Atkinson is entertainingly despicable as Pinkworth, even if admittedly it recycles some of Atkinson's Blackadder persona, but in terms of how it fits into the movie it lends itself to some nice comic gags.
The plot is pretty episodic with most of the movie consisting of relatively self-contained situations of Bernard and Josephus just going about their day. There's no real limit on the wishes with the only rule they establish being the wishes can't change someone's feelings nor is there much of a conflict driving the narrative. The movie is a very relaxed sit of these characters interacting with each other and because they're such charismatic and likable presences they really don't need to manufacture any conflicts or "nadirs" in the film to artificially inflate the drama.
Bernard and the Genie is an enjoyable sit thanks to the strong writing by Richard Curtis, tight direction of Paul Weiland, and energy and charisma of its cast. Alan Cumming makes a strong debut as a leading man and Lenny Henry owns the scene with his comic energy. The movie is a great small scale character based comedy to put on during the seasons.