It seems nobody talked about this, but I've been having the question during the entire movie as soon as I saw the almighty genie: is it possible for a guy who has to work so hard to raise his family not asking for a fortune from the genie?
Yes, asking money can be cheesy and money won't always do good things. But it's definitely reasonable and pretty much every ordinary people's wish, isn't it? To not asking for it makes the main actor looks off, the writer look lazy, and the entire movie feels wrong at the very first beginning, even just as a silly holiday movie. To make it worse, all the wishes asked are not surprising or fun. The only moment that I laughed was for the wish "go to the hell". It's especially ironical that the numbers the genie left for the main character was considered to be lottery numbers. It is the only time the movie talks about money, and it feels nearly stupid. Unfortunately, Melissa's good performance is not enough to save this movie.