The Magical World of Harry Potter: The Unauthorized Story of J. K. Rowling

Watching this "unauthorized tribute" to publishing phenomenon J. K. Rowling, I was reminded of Steve Martin's 1999 comedy Bowfinger, in which never-was producer/director Bobby Bowfinger (Martin) hits upon the ingenious idea of securing financing for his action script Chubby Rain by surreptitiously shooting footage of top action film star Kit Ramsey (Eddie Murphy) without his permission and then cobbling together a movie. Although the beloved British author appears here during an awards ceremony and a press conference, it's clear that the filmmakers never had access to Rowling herself. What they did have access to (in droves) were children from around the United Kingdom singing the rather repetitive praises of Pottermania (you'll hear many sentences beginning "I like [character] the best, because…"). As someone who has read all four books and is eagerly awaiting the next installment, I cued this up halfheartedly, suspecting--correctly--that it would offer an uninformative, hastily assembled, superficial portrait. Still, the look at the café where the formerly struggling single welfare mom worked on what would eventually become the first Harry Potter book, and interviews with the real Potter family that were neighbors/playmates of Rowling when she was a young girl, partially makes up for the fact that you, me and the rest of the world knows much more about the mystery title of the 4th book (no longer a secret), the upcoming first feature film (slated for release in 2001), and Rowling herself, than does this unauthorized and not terribly enlightening documentary. Ah, you're saying, but it's got Harry Potter in the title, for Hagrid's sake! True enough; so purchase according to demand. Aud: E, I, J, H, P. (R. Pitman)