Used to be, witches were relegated to the dregs of society, covered in warts and cackling over some stew in a big pot full of eye of newt. Now witches are mainstream and accepted due to the extraordinary efforts of a cute blonde named Samantha who wrinkled her nose and millions of Americans were spellbound. She�ll never know what it�s like to be weighed with a duck and told she�s made of wood.

We�ve come a long way, and this weekend, in our witch-embracing society where a book about magical folks is the best-selling book of all time not including the Bible, Bewitched is a movie based on a TV show about making a TV show based on the original TV show, only Samantha is truly, honestly a real-life witch this time. Got that? I hope you don�t need any potions from Salem, Mass., to figure it out, but one can never be too safe.

The lukewarm reviews almost had me skipping this, but that would have been a mistake. This is an entertaining flick. They had fun making it, I got some good laughs and the two incredibly likeable leads make it worthwhile.

	The jig was up when Nicole was caught reading "Muggles For Dummies."

Woo hoo witchy woman see how high Nicole Kidman flies. If she was in Wizard of Oz she�d be Glinda the Na�ve Witch, nothing wicked about her. Not that it stops her from using her powers for anything and everything, including controlling a person�s actions, which isn�t cool. But she's so cute!

Nicole is Isabel, playing Samantha in the TV remake, even though she wants to live a normal life with normal people. Nothing like that in Hollywood. Michael Caine is her warlock father and would fit in much better in L.A. with a life of instant gratification.

For some reason she speaks in a whisper, but why? Elizabeth Montgomery had a strong voice, but in real life was she shy and a low-talker? Is that what Kidman is channeling?

Dick York, Dick Sargent, meet your new Darrin, Will Ferrell. A mere mortal who feels he�s much more due to superstar status, Ferrell gets ample opportunities to show off his silly side and what has to be some boffo ad libbing, but he plays the romantic comedy male lead just right, too.

At first he seems like a nice guy, and needs prodding to be a Hollywood prick. Then he�s a preening diva out for more camera time, a trailer called The Jackerator that dwarfs Nicole�s shed, and is desperate for camera time. So yeah, he�s an actor. A darn funny one, at that.

I�m not sure the movie went anywhere and I�m not sure how it got nowhere all higgedly-piggedly, but there was enough magic in the script and characters to keep the journey entertaining nonetheless.

One thing we can all agree on, it would be mega-cool to be able to snap your fingers and get most anything we want. For example, I would be dating Nicole Kidman instead of spending eight bucks to stare at her blue eyes from 45-feet away.