REVIEW: “Godmothered” Brings a New Meaning to “Happily Every After”
What is a happy ending? If you ask Cinderella, it was finding her Prince Charming, but for Godmothered‘s Mackenzie (Isla Fisher), it is something completely different. In Disney+’s new movie Godmothered, in-training godmother-to-be, Eleanor (Jillian Bell) has always wanted to be someone’s godmother. Now, that her opportunity to become a full fledged godmother is in jeopardy, Eleanor takes matters into her own hands to save the godmother program before it is too late. In order to do this, she must take on a godmother “assignment”. However, when Eleanor realizes that her “assignment” is no longer a ten year old girl named Mackenzie, but a grown woman named Mackenzie, Eleanor will find that saving the program will be harder than she first thought.
On the surface, the movie has an Enchanted vibe to it. A fairytale character is thrown into the real world and has to navigate this crazy new world while at the same time convincing the human that “Happily Ever After” does exist. But with Godmothered, the endgame plays out differently than in Enchanted. Director Sharon Maguire, has found a way to deviate from the normal fairytale narrative and make the movie predictable in all the right places and yet, unpredictable in others, which creates a fun time for all.
Helping with the unpredictability are the movie’s leads, Bell and Fisher. Separately, Bell is extremely charming as the over the top Eleanor while Fisher is a joy as Mackenzie, but together, these two are a winning combination. Though, the outstanding performance in this movie has to go to Willa Skye (Mackenzie’s youngest daughter, Mia). Her character had me laughing every time she came on stage, due mainly to her facials in certain scenes. Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Jillian Shea Spaeder, and Santiago Cabrera round out the cast as Mackenzie’s sister, Paula, Mackenzie’s oldest daughter, Jillian and Mackenzie’s coworker, Hugh. All three were quite enjoyable in the movie, but were outshined by Bell, Fisher and Skye.
My only wish for the movie was to see more of Mackzenie’s happy ending on screen. The ending felt a little rushed when it came to showing off that happy ending and things were not wrapped into a nice bow. It really was quite a shame because there was all this great build up and then no real reward. By taking a few more minutes to focus on this, the happy ending would have felt more earned than just decided in the last few minutes.
Godmothered is a great movie to watch this Holiday season, whether it be with friends or family. From its fun storyline to the great music, Godmothered will leave you rethinking the meaning “Happy Every After”.
Grade: A