Much of the fun, most of the satire, and all of the wit have been removed, leaving us a light, sanitized, pale imitation of the original.
Tools:
Recommend review to a friend »
In 1967 the British team of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore made a little gem of a comedy called "Bedazzled," directed by Stanley Donen. Based on the Faustian legend of a man selling his soul to the devil for a specified number of wishes, the movie was funny and satiric and devilishly witty. Hollywood, ever on the lookout for classic motion pictures to remake, whether they need to be remade or not, produced this 2000 update for a new generation of filmgoers, with Harold Ramis ("Caddyshack," "Groundhog Day") as cowriter, co-producer, and director. Much of the fun, most of the satire, and all of the wit have been removed, leaving us a light, sanitized, pale imitation of the original.
This time out Brendan Fraser plays the hapless victim, Elliot Richards, who sells off his soul, and Elizabeth Hurley plays the devil, Satan, Beelzebub, the Princess of Darkness. Why a woman? Why not. She looks great in skimpy outfits. As we're told during the opening titles, Elliot is "lovesick, desperate, obvious, and eager to please." He is, in fact, a witless clod, working as a computer tech advisor in San Francisco, a man whom everyone thinks, rightfully, is a jerk and whom everyone tries to avoid at all costs. Elliot is madly in love with a beautiful lady in his department named Alison (Frances O'Connor); they have been working together for four years and she still doesn't recognize him.
So, the devil shows up and offers Elliot seven wishes. Naturally, his first impulses are to wish for ways of getting Alison. But, of course, the devil, being the devil, makes sure that none of the wishes turn out the way Elliot had hoped. His first wish, for instance, is to be rich and powerful and married to Alison. And it's done. He's turned into a Colombian drug lord with millions of dollars and a drug war on his hands. Worse, Alison may be married to him but she hates his guts and is having an affair with another man! In wish after wish he keeps losing her, no matter whether he's sensitive or tough, athletic, intelligent, articulate, or sexy. Once a loser, always a loser.
Fraser by now is typecast in these roles ("George of the Jungle," "Dudley Do-Right," "The Mummy"). He's the handsome schmo, the born washout, the witless hero, the poor soul about to lose what little soul he's got. He's pretty much asked to carry the whole show, and he does his best at being continually duped and trying to remain sympathetic. The real question we have to ask is why he keeps wishing for Alison when the devil is so gorgeous. Since he appears only to be in lust, anyway, didn't it ever occur to him to wish for the devil herself? Well, as I said, Elliot is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier.
It is, however, Ms. Hurley as the devil that makes this film appear anemic compared to the original. She is extremely beautiful, to be sure, and most alluring, but she isn't funny. Peter Cook's devil, always dapper, sophisticated, pompous, and sly in the earlier film was at least as humorous as Dudley Moore's victim. His devil's idea of a good time was pulling phonograph records out of their sleeves before their being shipped to stores and putting scratches across the grooves, or making the bottoms of loaded grocery bags fall out while little old ladies are carrying them down the street. But in this latest version, the devil is rigging traffic signals to cause automobile accidents and encouraging earthquakes in Peru. Folks, that's not funny, just noisier, and it's surprising someone so talented as Harold Ramis couldn't tell the difference.
Average user rating (1-5):
[release]6551[/release]