“Godmothered” Leaves a Lot to Be Desired, but RELAX — It’s Not That Serious
By: Gabrielle Ulubay
Tags: Disney Plus, Movies, Disney, Movie Review, Godmothered

Jillian Bell and Isla Fisher in “Godmothered”

I’m still on that Disney Plus kick (more to come — trying to get my money’s worth with this subscription), so I watched Sharon Maguire’s new film, Godmothered. I was mostly attracted to this film because Isla Fisher is in it (Wedding Crashers is one of my all-time favorite comedies) and because I thought it would be similar to Enchanted (2007). The two are somewhat similar in terms of the crossover between a fairytale world and the real world, and because they star Hollywood’s two favorite, oft-confused redheads (fun fact: Isla Fisher’s husband, Sacha Baron Cohen, joked about how much his wife looked like Amy Adams by putting Adams in their family Christmas card in place of Fisher. Their friends and family didn’t seem to notice).

In truth, though, Godmothered and Enchanted are not similar at all. Godmothered does not reference and/or subvert familiar fairytale tropes with the same success that Enchanted does. While Maguire creates an interesting fairytale world in which novice fairy godmothers attend godmother classes as though they were in college, this world is never explored with any depth. Furthermore, the mentors and professors at this fairy godmother university have the potential to be sources of comic relief or dramatic tension, but they are featured too infrequently to have any tangible effect on the film. The few times scenes do include them, their dialogue lacks substance and the characters are rendered somewhat obsolete — with the exception of the final scene, in which the appearance of the antagonistic headmaster seems random.

Eleanor (Jillian Bell), our fairy godmother in-training, also has the potential to be funny and delightfully naïve like Amy Adams’ Giselle in Enchanted, but she only ends up being annoying, disruptive, and self-centered. She certainly has her entertaining moments and Jillian Bell works with what little the writers gave her, but everything from her personality to her actions to her potentially hilarious relationship with a Boston raccoon fall short of expectations.

Generally speaking, this movie is underwhelming because it is disorganized. The script tries to do a lot of things — tackle the pain of being widowed, the challenges of being a single mother, the desire to feel fulfilled at work, being open to romantic love, adolescent self-confidence, and positivity in the media — on top of being a movie that is, at its core, about a fairytale coming to life in a modern metropolis. In trying to do so much, Godmothered touches on all these topics fleetingly before jumping to the next subplot, and as a result it does not accomplish any of its aims well.

Now, I will say this: Godmothered is not a good film per se, but it’s also not glaringly bad. I enjoyed it for what it was, and I encourage anyone with kids or anyone who’s curious about the film to do this as well. I have a Master’s degree in Film and have attended countless press screenings throughout my undergraduate and graduate careers, and one of the most consistent frustrations I have with my fellow film snobs is just that: They’re snobs.

You’re out of your mind if you approach Godmothered with the same mindset you’d approach an Antonioni, Kurosawa, or Bergman film. They are not the same, and this is not that deep. This is a family Christmas film with no intentions of being a cinematic masterpiece, and in that respect this film is successful. I was, indeed, entertained, and Godmothered did not nauseate me in the way bad films like When in Rome (2010), Scrooged (1988), and Jingle All the Way (1996) have. I was even pleased with Godmothered’s climax in which her daughters and sister were touted as the loves of her life, while her romantic interest took second place.

Again, this isn’t a horrible film (not like the aforementioned three are — and I really will fight you on those). It’s just meh. It won’t give you that satisfied, “ah, that was actually really great,” feeling that Disney films like Soul (2020), Coco (2017), Ratatouille (2007), etc. will, but it’ll leave you content. It’s a source of light-hearted entertainment and is not a total waste of time if go in with appropriate expectations and you take it for what it is.

POSTSCRIPT: Okay, I live in Boston, so I have to say: Had the cast and crew ever been to Boston? I mean, what the hell? The film takes place in Boston and there is literally no demonstrable understanding of where neighborhoods are and who lives there. Our main characters live in a swanky two-floor place (is it a condo? Is it a house?) in Charlestown, which is one of the most rapidly gentrifying and, consequently, expensive neighborhoods in the city. The idea that a single mother living paycheck to paycheck could live in an apartment like that with a gorgeous view of the Zakim Bridge is like saying a broke college student (sans trust fund) could afford a penthouse overlooking Central Park. AND at the end of the film, the characters stress over whether they’ll make it downtown in time for the children’s concert, but as they say this they are downtown.

At least try a little, guys. Buy a map or something. My goodness.