Godmothered (2020)

Godmothered (2020)

 

3/10

Starring

Jillian Bell

Isla Fisher

Jane Curtin

Mary Elizabeth Ellis

Directed by Sharon Maguire

In the whole idea of trying to please today’s crowd, this movie ended up lacking the magical touch synonymous with Disney to even matter. I felt the idea of this Fairy Godmother (Eleanor, played by Jillian Bell) not knowing that the world had changed and trying to find a man for her ward (Mackenzie, played by Isla Fisher) was cool. I was hoping to see more stumbling around on the matter, but the movie kept criss-crossing between Mackenzie, her children, and her work, and I kept wondering what the main focus was.

Godmothered is a fantasy comedy film with a forgettable plot and not-so-great effects from Disney studios for their streaming platform.

Godmothered made me laugh in some places and cringe in others, but cringing was more common. What Disney and the writers did was take the normal tales we are used to and make them more present-day. The tweaking didn’t end there; they added a little self-awareness here and there. They also removed the traditional plot of “having a man equals a happily ever after,” which we all know is not true. Being coupled up does not mean happily ever after. That message I liked, and I liked how Mackenzie found joy in making her child’s dream come true and found peace within herself to stand up to her useless boss. All these nice messages were just at the end of a nagging presence of a boring movie.

The movie starts by taking us to Motherland, where all the Fairy Godmothers get trained for their work. The problem is, nobody has needed a Fairy Godmother in years, and the whole thing is dying. Even the Godmothers in training are being taught outdated history and methods of caring for their wards. Eleanor is a trainee Fairy Godmother who is eager to get onboard and help people find their happily ever after. When she finds out that Motherland is going to be closed and the Fairy Godmothers reassigned, she knows she has to find someone to help to save the whole idea of having Fairy Godmothers. She goes to the storeroom, finds an old letter, and decides to go help ten-year-old Mackenzie. The problem is, when she gets to where Mackenzie was, she is no longer a ten-year-old girl. She is now a grown woman with children of her own.

Eleanor decides not to let the lapse in time from when the letter was sent to when Mackenzie got a response be too high a wall for her to scale. She goes ahead with her plan to give Mackenzie the happily ever after she needs. Eleanor has also found, in her eyes, the prince charming to do it. So, with Mackenzie trying hard to keep Eleanor in check, Eleanor, oblivious to the time she’s in, becomes a story magnet as she bumbles through town, causing headlines.

You can catch this movie on Disney+, but I would not advise you do.