Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Genie’ on Peacock, Where It Takes A Genie’s Help to Save A Struggling Marriage

Peacock takes a stab at creating their own original holiday classic in PG-rated fantasy comedy film Genie. Led by a cast so talented it feels like we might have wished it all up, the film stars Melissa McCarthy as a genie helping New York City resident Bernard (Paapa Essiedu) keep his family together as his whole life falls apart in the thick of the holiday season. Does Genie make the most of this Christmastime magic or does it just ultimately prove that not all wishes are capable of being granted?

GENIE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: In this Peacock Original film from Academy Award-nominated British screenwriter Richard Curtis , Bernard Bottle (Paapa Essiedu)—as in “genie in a”— is truly having a rough holiday season. His selfish auction house-owning boss, Oliver Flaxman (Alan Cumming), keeps him at work late, causing Bernard to ultimately miss his daughter Eve’s (Jordyn McIntosh) eighth birthday.

Heartbroken that Bernard is letting their family down once again, his wife Julie (Denée Benton) opts to have Eve join her in staying with her mother (LaChanze) for Christmas and asks Bernard not to join them. The icing on the cake is that after all that, Bernard gets fired from his job anyway after asking for some time off to fight for his family. Oof.

Bummed out at the prospect of a crumbling marriage and spending the holidays alone in the family’s New York City apartment, Bernard starts dusting an old jewelry box out of boredom, only to accidentally release a genie named Flora (Melissa McCarthy) who has been stuck in the box for the past 2,000 years. After a rocky start, Bernard and Flora come together to form a mutually beneficial partnership to help Bernard get his family back and aid Flora adjust to her new surroundings as well as find herself along the way. With unlimited wishes (excluding a few stipulations), holiday magic in the air, and the power of Tom Cruise and high-quality pizza on their side, Bernard and Flora prepare to work and stumble their way to a happy ending for all.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Genie is a cross between a few different movies. It’s like Bruce Almighty in that it’s about a regular man who is suddenly granted the otherworldly power to make almost anything he wants happen instantly. Additionally, Flora’s joy and childlike wonder as she tries to figure out modern life and New York City is very much like Buddy’s own experience gleefully exploring the Big Apple and what it’s like to live there in Elf. And of course, the genie of it all will likely remind many viewers of Aladdin.

Performance Worth Watching: When Melissa McCarthy is given free rein to be silly and do her thing, she’s a treat to watch, but for me the overall standout of Genie was actually Marc Maron as the Bottle family’s doorman, Lenny. Even though he doesn’t have a ton of screen time, Maron makes the most of every second with an easy charm and affability that made his character feel very grounded, lovable, and real, even if he is a parallel lives-obsessed chatterbox who may or may not own too many cats.

Memorable Dialogue: “And how does the Devil look like?” “Well, he kind of looked like Ricky Gervais.”

A Holiday Tradition: It’s not totally clear if there’s any holiday tradition in particular, but it seems like both Bernard and Julie make it a point to spend time with their loved ones, including extended family, around Christmas time each year. Although after the evening Bernard gave his side of the family (which ends up with one person taking a literal visit to Hell), they may not want to see him again next year.

Does the Title Make Any Sense?: Genie‘s title is uninspired but mostly makes sense. While something like Elf is about a guy who thinks he’s an elf, Genie is about a man named Bernard whose life is changed by a genie. But is the genie really what this movie is all about? Or is it actually about the everyday magic that comes from the simple act of showing up for the people we love when they need it most? The latter concept is perhaps a harder one to, uh, bottle (ha, sorry), so perhaps Genie encapsulates the film as a whole best, albeit very broadly.

Our Take: I’m bummed out about Genie, because I really wanted to love this one but it just didn’t have the juice to feel like an overall above average viewing experience. For one, it felt longer than its 93 minute run time, in large part due to some major pacing issue. The first third of the movie drags by without many laughs or exciting moments, only to give way to a middle part bursting with life, humor, and genuine charm, namely stemming from Flora interacting with New York City and modern life for the first time (because we’re just getting to see Melissa McCarthy kill it as the comedy queen she is).

But then once again, Genie loses its way in a meandering final act that takes an inexplicable turn as Bernard’s Lionel Messi jersey is swapped out for the actual Mona Lisa, leading to pandemonium in Paris and causing both Bernard and Flora to be arrested, only to be free with no negative repercussions once Bernard can finally wish the problem away. It just left me wondering what was the point?

This movie that initially seemed to be about Bernard’s relationship with his wife and child as he tries to learn how to fight for them and truly give them what they really need from him is muddled by the switched focus to Bernard and Flora’s budding friendship and Flora’s wacky antics. And that’s not even getting into Flora’s convoluted genie rules that attempted to be original but ended up just seeming to contradict each other and feel hard to keep straight.

Genie clearly has a very talented cast and a lot of skilled people working on it. The New York City of it all also contributes to the magical feeling and is a nice backdrop for the action to take place. And yet even all that isn’t enough to make this an ultimately successful Christmas film. Genie just feels like it’s missing something central. You watch it and feel like “this should be a really great movie” but it’s just… not. It’s so close but ultimately feels about as hollow as an empty genie’s lamp, which is a real shame.

Our Call: SKIP IT. I wish I could give this movie an emphatic “stream it” but alas, Genie just didn’t have enough left in the bottle to make it a successful holiday hit.