GENIE (2023)

Name: GENIE (2023)
Item: GENIE (2023)
Author: Review

"Family Is Magical"

Content: -1 Caution advised for older children, including teenagers, and sensitive adults.

Entertainment Quality:

	None	Light	Moderate	Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

Skip offensive content with

LEARN MORE

Credits →

Watch:

What You Need To Know:

GENIE (2023) stars Melissa McCarthy as a female genie named Flora. She helps Bernard, a harried husband and fast lane father who feels trapped between his imposing boss and spending time with his family. Bernard comes home one night to find he’s missed his daughter’s birthday. Bernard’s wife tells him that she and his daughter are going to her mother’s house to see if he can sort out his priorities. However, can magic wishes replace his loving presence in the lives of his wife and child?

Streaming on Peacock, Universal Pictures’ GENIE is a fun, family-centered Christmas comedy. It has a well-written story, appealing performances and nice cinematography. GENIE has a strong moral worldview with overt positive references to Jesus Christ, even though it places these elements side by side with the usual Santa Claus story. Also, the movie upholds a positive view of the family and the importance of fathers. This is rare and refreshing. GENIE has no foul language, but there are a few light off-color jokes and innuendoes. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises special caution for pre-teen children and young teenagers.

Content:

(BB, CC, FR, O, V, S, A, M)

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

Strong moral worldview stresses the family, the importance of fathers and helping other people, with some overt positive references to Jesus Christ, though the movie places these elements side by side with the usual Santa Claus story, and magic is part of the story but magic wishes

Foul Language:

No foul language, but a female genie washes her hair in a toilet because she doesn’t know any better, and a woman accidentally walks into a bathroom with a man sitting on a toilet, but no nudity is shown

Violence:

Talk of violence (the genie has a knife and likes to “hack and slice,” though no actual event ever takes place), a character is briefly sent to Hell by the genie (he returns with his hair, face and clothes burnt and singed in places)

Sex:

Some light innuendo off-color jokes such as genie advises the main character not to say, “I wish you would castrate me,” genie mentions a “mating dance” and moves her hips, a rap song talks about “moving your booty,” female genie develops a crush on Tom Cruise in a movie theater, a female genie who has never seen it before plays with women’s underwear and uses it like a sling

Nudity:

No explicit nudity, but some pictures in the background are of scantily clad people

Alcohol Use:

Social drinking on three occasions

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

No smoking or drug use but there two jokes about drugs when people are confronted by strange situations; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:

A man tries to reconnect with his estranged wife by having a genie provide all kinds of romantic hooks for him, but the movie does show the folly of doing this.

More Detail:

GENIE (2023), the new Christmas comedy from Universal Pictures, is a fun and family centered movie. It should bring a little early cheer to many a hearth.

Bernard is a harried husband and fast lane father who can’t say no to his imposing boss at a New York City museum. Coming home late one night to find he’s missed his daughter’s birthday, he’s confronted by his wife who says she and her daughter will go to her mother’s for a time to see if Bernard can sort out his priorities.

Dusting off an oddly jeweled box, Bernard brings a genie named Flora into his front room. At first incredulous, he quickly comes to believe in her wish granting powers. He then begins to concoct a plan to regain his family. However, can magic wishes replace the loving presence of a man in the lives of his wife and child?

GENIE (2023) is a fun, family-centered Christmas romp. It is well written and compellingly acted with good cinematography of New York City at Christmas time. The story of a loving family separated by a father’s absence and lack of attention is engaging. Bernard’s growth as he fights to show his family he’s turned over a new leaf is uplifting. Melissa McCarthy, as the titular Genie, is not only much less raw and off putting than usual, but also a likable and sympathetic character. Overall, the movie, while certainly formulaic, manages to bring a bit of early Christmas cheer to its audience.

The movie’s overall worldview is moral with some strong positive references to Jesus Christ even though these elements are placed side by side with the usual Santa Claus story. Flora, seemingly of ancient Celtic descent, who claims to have been trapped in the lamp for a few thousand years, speaks of

having met Jesus and having a great respect for Him. Specifically, she says he was “a great guy” who refused to use his powers to get rich, preferring to “follow a different path.” However, she then gives credence to the Santa Claus story by saying that it was odd that Bernard had trouble believing in Santa Claus when he believes in her being a genie. As a whole, however, the movie upholds a positive view of the family and the importance of the father. This is rare and refreshing. GENIE has no foul language, but it does have a few off-color jokes and two instances of bawdy innuendo. Because of this, MOVIEGUIDE® advises some caution for older pre-teenage children and young teenagers.