A Simple Wish

1997 "Anabel made a wish. Murray made a mess."
5.3| 1h26m| PG| en| More Info
Released: 11 July 1997 Released
Producted By: Universal Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Murray is a male fairy godmother, and he is trying to help 8-year-old Anabel to fulfil her "simple wish" - that her father Oliver, who is a cab driver, would win the leading role in a Broadway musical. Unfortunately, Murray's magic wand is broken and the fairies convention is threatened by evil witches Claudia and Boots.

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Director

Michael Ritchie

Production Companies

Universal Pictures

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A Simple Wish Audience Reviews

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.
Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.
Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
Sirus_the_Virus Sometimes, in a film like A simple wish, it takes one celeb to make a movie work. That was kind of the case with Pirates of the Caribbean. It wouldn't have been the same if Christopher Walken would've played Captain Jack. I similar sort of thing goes for A simple wish. Martin Short is great, as usual. And probably couldn't have made the film better. He is mostly why I enjoyed the film. The film is kind of silly. Though it has a good cast. Kathleen Turner as the villain. And a somewhat silly performance by Amanda Plummer from Pulp fiction as her assistant. Though i'll admit it is kind of silly, it is still fun.A Simple wish:***/****
movies2u > This is a very good kids movie, that is fun and entertaining. Martin Short makes a hilarious Fairy Godmother, or should I say "Fairy Godfather" to Mara Wilson, who only wants her dad to be in a broadway show, but gets mixed up and must stop an evil witch played by Kathleen Turner, or her dad will become a statue! This movie was smart and fun, and the "frog in your throat" scene was gross-out funny! I give it 10/10.
clicchi This movie made my daughter (7) laugh so much .. it made me laugh too just through her at first. Later I found myself remembering some of the scenes and laughing to myself. The slapstick and silliness appeal to the child in everyone. Yes, I grew up loving the Three Stooges shorts and Short uses their antics in no short supply. From the opening scenes Murrey shows us what kind on stooge he really is and it just develops from there as the film moves through it's plot. It's not a bad plot as family movies go. Kathleen Turner puts in a wicked performance as a villainous witch. The special effects are good and used in a way that compliments the funniness of the scenes and aren't just there to dazzle or put there arbitrarily. I saw a comment on another Short movie that fits the bill here too. I'm going to change it while keeping the spirit of it intact. If you don't get the meaning of slapstick humor then (there's nothing to get just ...let it happen) go rent a George Carlin standup video instead. There's some very funny scenes here and a decent plot so I'll rate this family comedy for what it is at a solid 7 stars.
Lorrana I am a big fan of kids flicks, but I know when I see a flop. That's not the case. "A Simple Wish" is one of best children movie I've ever seen, alongside Miracle on 34th Street (the original), A Bug's Life and a few others. It's really easy to screw up when making a film for kids. They don't expect much and amuse themselves with a little dosis of real humour and no story at all. But when the movie is really well done, it can become a classic.The movie is about the male fairy-godmother Murray(Martin Short at his best), who's having a little trouble making Anabel's (Mara Wilson) dream come true because of his little experience in "godmothering". And above all that, they have to fight the evil ex-fairy-godmother Claudia (Kathleen Turner), who wants to rule above all her ex-mates.The plot sounds a little common? It might even be, but here it has been so well structured that we are carried to Anabel's life and we feel the helplessness of Murray, who's trying so hard to save the day, even though he don't have the skill to do it. He has a good heart and that's all that it takes.The characters are lovable. Amanda Plummer is especially funny, as Claudia's sidekick. The dialogues are clever yet simple, perfect for kids and for grown ups who enjoy real pure fantasy and delightment.