A Simple Wish

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A Simple Wish

PG,

1997,

1h 29m,

Kids & Family/

Fantasy

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21%

19 Reviews

Tomatometer

42%

50,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

21%

Tomatometer

19 Reviews

42%

Popcornmeter

50,000+ Ratings

Eight-year-old Annabel (Mara Wilson) is rooting for her father, Oliver (Robert Pastorelli), to get the lead part in a new musical, but he doesn't have the same name recognition as arrogant actor Tony Sable (Alan Campbell). When Murray (Martin Short), the first-ever male fairy godmother, is sent to help Annabel, he bungles the wish badly and turns her dad into a statue in Central Park. Meanwhile, evil Claudia (Kathleen Turner), long forbidden the use of magic due to her greed, plots revenge.

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Richard Williams

Guardian

Sep 22, 2025

Creating Murray as a kind of sociopathic Ken Dodd might have seemed a good wheeze, but he is so authentically loathsome.

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Quentin Curtis

Daily Telegraph (UK)

Sep 22, 2025

A Simple Wish fails to make good its winning premise.

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Jan 1, 2000

1.5/4

A Simple Wish has assembled all the trinkets and effects necessary for its story, without bothering to tell one.

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Philip French

Observer (UK)

Sep 22, 2025

It is sad to see Michael Ritchie, who 25 years ago was widely regarded as one of Hollywood's most ambitious young directors, making such dull fare.

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Matthew Sweet

Independent on Sunday

Sep 22, 2025

If Martin Short appeared in my bedroom in the middle of the night, I'd jump on a chair and scream.

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Brian Orndorf

Blu-ray.com

Mar 14, 2014

D+

Not even Short can make A Simple Wish memorable, often looking as though he's merely surviving the work, stripped of his killer instinct.

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Michael Ritchie

Director

Martin Short

Murray

Mara Wilson

Anabel Greening

Robert Pastorelli

Oliver Greening

Amanda Plummer

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Francis Capra

Charlie Greening

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Synopsis

Eight-year-old Annabel (Mara Wilson) is rooting for her father, Oliver (Robert Pastorelli), to get the lead part in a new musical, but he doesn't have the same name recognition as arrogant actor Tony Sable (Alan Campbell). When Murray (Martin Short), the first-ever male fairy godmother, is sent to help Annabel, he bungles the wish badly and turns her dad into a statue in Central Park. Meanwhile, evil Claudia (Kathleen Turner), long forbidden the use of magic due to her greed, plots revenge.

Director: Michael Ritchie
Producer: Bill Sheinberg, Jonathan Sheinberg, Sid Sheinberg
Screenwriter: Jeff Rothberg
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Co: The Bubble Factory, Universal Pictures
Rating: PG
Genre: Kids & Family, Fantasy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 11, 1997, Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 7, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $8.1M
Runtime: 1h 29m
Sound Mix: DTS, Surround
Aspect Ratio: 35mm, Flat (1.85:1)

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