So I got around to seeing it. Pretty forgettable really, even if I treated it as closer to a random TV show and speaking of TV shows I do not reckon it would have even done better as one. I guess I liked it more than Bruce Almighty, though Bruce Almighty might have been slightly tighter. At the same time I dare say the invention of lying was a better film and I really did not enjoy that, and actually I reckon that would be the better film to compare it to now I have seen it.
Some of the parts in the school were not bad, even if they completely wasted Eddie Izzard (worse than Ocean's sequels), but I reckon I would have rather watched that old Teachers TV show instead. It was nice seeing Sanjeev Bhaskar in a comedy role as I had not seen much of him since the older Kumars and Goodness Gracious me (
an example) but it amounted to not a lot. On the subject of wasted the Pythons could have been any other decent voice actors really. The animation of them, while nothing technically spectacular, was good pretty stuff. I do not know if Terry Gilliam was in any way responsible for it and a search is not telling me much but it was strongly reminiscent at points. Oh yeah there were some other noted comedy actors involved in this, even more underused really.
Things I liked more with broadly similar themes
Ruby Sparks
That episode of the xfiles where he encounters a genie (s7e21 apparently)
Various kids TV shows where wishes were a thing, usually UK or Australia based. Something like Five Children and It/The Sand Fairy.
Any time Red Dwarf came close to such a topic (luck virus and better than life being two examples that come to mind).
My already low opinion is getting even lower as this goes on so I will leave it there. If you are after a Simon Pegg film then it was not brilliant but Kill Me Three Times has some better moments, though it was certainly not a comedy film, and Man Up some are saying is not bad.
