‘Bewitched’ befools and beguiles

Deception makes comedies work.

Characters that pretend to be different than who they are

generally need to delve deeper into the deception than initially

expected to keep the deception intact. Audiences get a kick out of

watching characters wiggle and worm their way in or out of their web

of deceit. All forms of comedy, from television to funny movies,

incorporate deception in their storylines.

The new film, “Bewitched,” uses deception on several levels. One

obvious deception is that instead of being a remake of the former

prime-time sitcom, “Bewitched,” the movie, is a screwball comedy

about making a remake of the long-running series.

In an attempt to resurrect his floundering acting career, Jack

(Will Ferrell) agrees to star in an updated version of “Bewitched”

for television. Jack is the archetypical Hollywood actor possessing

an ego that exceeds the circumference of the earth.

Feeding such an ego takes a lot of maintenance. He must have the

biggest trailer, have an agent on call 24/7, but above all else he

must have top billing. To achieve that, Jack rewrites the show.

Instead of the show being about a witch married to a mortal man, the

sitcom will now focus on the mortal married to a witch.

Isabel (Nicole Kidman) is asked to play the TV sitcom wife because

she has the ability to wiggle her nose just like it was done to cast

spells in the original show. The reason nose wiggling is easy for

Isabel is because she is a witch, although everyone thinks she is an

actress.

Isabel agrees to be in the show for reasons other than being in

television. She has fallen in love with Jack at first sight. Wanting

to keep her real reason a secret for taking part in the show, Isabel

pretends to be like everyone else, a mere mortal. However, Isabel’s

deception is harder to control and manage than she imagined.

Director Nora Ephron (“Sleepless in Seattle”) and writer Delia

Ephron keep the story moving forward by adding more developments,

twists and turns to both the primary and subplots.

For example, Isabel’s warlock father, played by Michael Caine,

fails to listen to his own advice about staying away from mortals.

Thus he gets into an entanglement from which he tries to break free.

Isabel’s TV mom, Endora (Shirley MacLaine), possesses an actor’s ego

close in size to Jack’s, but unlike Jack, she spends her time

manipulating the people around her.

Also keeping the story moving forward are additional characters

from the defunct show that drop in to help Isabel, like the klutzy

Aunt Claire and mischievous Uncle Arthur.

What is entertaining about “Bewitched” is that the story lets the

audience feel they are in on the deception. Its charm is that the

story is about something else. There is a message cleverly buried

within the story tied to the deception Isabel has set in motion.

The reason deception works is because the deceit sets up one set

of expectations but delivers an unexpected outcome, something that

“Bewitched” does just enough to be entertaining.

* PEGGY J. ROGERS, 40, produces commercial videos and

documentaries.

Romero’s ‘Dead’ disgustingly alive

Is there anything more charming than a ‘60s Volkswagen Beetle with

a mind of its own that’s been paired with America’s newest

sweetheart? All I can say is that Herbie had better stay away from

Pittsburgh, unless he wants to see Lindsay Lohan’s internal organs

ripped out of her body by hungry zombies.

And if you think that’s disgusting, wait until you see George

Romero’s newest movie, “Land of the Dead.” This one isn’t as much of

an all-out gorefest as Romero’s previous “Dead” movies, but make-up

impresario Tom Savini is still shopping at the slaughterhouse for

unused parts and still mixing red coloring with Karo syrup by the

gallon.

What makes “Land of the Dead” entertaining is Romero’s love of

story and characters. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic

world where zombies are just another fact of life. His characters

exist in a dark reality with no easy answers, no quick fixes and only

the slimmest hope of seeing a brighter future.

The gap between rich and poor has become a chasm. There’s no

middle class separating the haves from the have-nots. Everything we

take for granted has become an expensive commodity. Aspirin are a

luxury item.

Cashing in on the disaster is Kaufman (Dennis Hopper). He’s

created a safe zone for the poor, and a world of luxury for the rich.

His high-rise building, Fiddler’s Green, has condos, a shopping mall

and almost everything to allow the very wealthy to pretend that

nothing has gone wrong. It’s not quite Corona del Mar, but the

occupants still feel they have the right to look down their noses on

the rest of the world.

To keep Fiddler’s Green stocked, Kaufman sends troops into

abandoned towns to loot the stores. It’s a dangerous job, and the

zombies are everywhere.

The supply team is lead by Riley (Simon Baker) and Cholo (John

Leguizamo). Both men have decided this is their last run in the

heavily armored vehicle they call Dead Reckoning. When this run is

complete, Riley wants to go to Canada in hopes of finding wide open,

uninfested safe territory. Cholo has been saving his money and plans

to buy one of Kaufman’s condos in Fiddler’s Green.

While in town, Riley spots a zombie who behaves differently than

the others. Dressed in gas station overalls with a nametag reading

Big Daddy, this zombie is showing signs of intelligence. It’s trying

to communicate with the other zombies and gets angry when the supply

team kills its friends. It wants payback.

Dennis Hopper is brilliant as Kaufman, the dark overlord of

Fiddler’s Green. Hopper exudes power and sophistication in his

tastefully decorated home and exquisitely made suits. Then he picks

his nose while he talks on the phone. He’s one of a kind.

As much as I like this story, it was still a bit of a

disappointment. The characters aren’t as rich as Romero’s previous

work. Baker delivers a pretty vanilla performance as the hero Riley.

We get glimpses of the dark new society that has risen from the

ashes, but for the most part, the movie just glosses over the

backstory. The story takes place in Romero’s hometown of Pittsburgh,

but doesn’t incorporate any of the city’s unique architecture.

Despite all of this, it works pretty well.

Romero’s nuanced approach to blood and guts has earned him a

reputation as the Ingmar Bergman of zombie filmmakers. Fans of this

genre will want to see this in the theater. It’s obvious that there

were a lot of cuts to bring this movie down to an “R” rating, and I

expect the DVD to have a lot of additional footage. It looks like

this is the beginning of a new Romero zombie trilogy, and we can only

wonder where he’ll take us next.

* JIM ERWIN, 40, is a technical writer and computer trainer.