‘Godmothered’ a little clunky, but Jillian Bell is terrifically funny
Oozing with cuteness, “Godmothered” works best when it’s doing its fishout- of-water thing. Ostensibly about an aspiring fairy godmother (Jillian Bell) trying to help an overwhelmed single mother (Isla Fisher) find her “happily ever after,” the holiday-season Disney+ movie is at its most magical when Bell’s Eleanor is exposed to the modern world.
Wouldn’t Siri freak YOU out had you never been to earth?
Eleanor comes from the Motherland, where imperious headmistress Moira (Jane Curtin of “Kate & Allie” and “3rd Rock From the Sun”) preaches fairytale notions for young girls that include attending balls in beautiful gowns and marrying Prince Charming.
“She’s been banging on about this same old formula for centuries,” 178-year- old fairy godmother Agnes (June Squibb, “Nebraska”) tells us with a hint of exhaustion in some early narration
Well, it’s all gone stale, and as letters from young girls looking for help have dried up, the Motherland is in danger of being shut down, the fairy godmothers destined to be reassigned as tooth fairies.
None of that sits well with Eleanor, the only woman in years interested in training to become a fairy godmother. When she finds a letter from a 10-year-old Boston girl named Mackenzie, she uses her loosey-goosey grasp on magic to travel to earth without permission from Moira.
After a bumpy pondportal arrival and an unfortunate event in a pumpkin patch, Eleanor catches some Zs against a tree by the side of a road.
“You can’t sleep here,” a concerned truck driver named Beth (Olga Merediz of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”) tells Eleanor after stopping to wake her.
Eleanor asks why — are there dragons and evil fairies around?
“In a manner of speak
ing” Beth says, “yeah.”
She soon finds Mackenzie (Fisher), a mother of two girls who works as a news producer for Boston’s last-place station.
“No, it can’t be you!” a dejected Eleanor insists. “You’re old! So old!”
It quickly becomes apparent how long Mackenzie’s letter must have been sitting around at the Motherland.
And now, on top of everything else she’s juggling, Mackenzie — once convinced her new, well, friend does indeed have magical powers but nowhere to go for shelter — must take her in, at least for a night or two.
Eleanor quickly begins to work her brand of clunky magic, giving Mackenzie’s relatively small home a medieval makeover, turning the family dog into pig and conjuring a raccoon (named Gary) to help with the housework. She also immediately bonds with Mackenzie’s girls, Jane (Jillian Shea Spaeder, “OMG!”) and the younger Mia ( Willa Skye, “Lazy Susan”), who, like their mother, are still feeling the loss of their father a few years ago.
Eleanor decides Mackenzie should be with one of the the station’s reporters, the handsome — and reasonably charming — Hugh Prince (Santiago Cabrera of “Star Trek: Picard”), who, like her, can’t stand their fourthplace- obsessed, ethically challenged boss, Grant (Utkarsh Ambudkar, “Brockmire”).
Eleanor does have a positive effect on Mackenzie, but, given all that’s at stake for the former, is she really doing everything for the right reason?
As enjoyable as Fisher (“Keeping Up With the Jones,” “Wedding Crashers”) always is, Bell is the straw that stirs this fantastical drink. So impressive starring in last year’s “Brittany Runs a Marathon” (which also featured Ambudkar) and appearing in this year’s “Bill & Ted Face the Music,” Bell is a delight in “Godmothered.”
The expressive actress makes the most of every comedic opportunity lined up for her by director Sharon Maguire (“Bridget Jones’s Diary”) and cowriters Melissa Stack (“The Other Woman”) and Kari Granlund (last year’s Disney+ “Lady and the Tramp” remake).
When “Godmothered” isn’t trying to be funny, it’s pretty standard family-friendly fare. There are a few jokes for adults that will go over the little ones’ head in this PGrated affair, but there is a lot of shiny blandness in this flick as it leads to its magic-heavy, Christmassprinkled conclusion.
While not completely spellbinding, “Godmothered” has enough fairy dust to entertain and lift the spirits.
“Godmothered” is rated PG for some suggestive comments, Runtime: 1 hour, 50 minutes.