Bedazzled

Rating:
Summary: BEDAZZLED DANTE
Review: Dante took the first voyage into Hell. Why does Elliot waste time with his seven lousy wishes. If he had listened to Al Pacino in Devils Advocate his tongue and lips would be comfortably numb by now, licking the earths greatest pleasures. Liz Hurley is the Devil anyway, and Elliot should know that. Signing pieces of nut cracking paper is un-necessary, just follow her down to Hell, Elliot. Enjoy the fruits of eternal damnation. You know you'll LOVE IT!!

PS Peter Cook had the same attitude to signing paper in the vastly superior 1967 version. I just prefer this version as I, your sad reviewer Mr Flint Lincoln Continental Westwood, is almost as pathetic as Mr E is.

Rating:
Summary: Please See All Angles.
Review: After the phenomenal "Devil's Advocate," Al Pacino will always be the devil to me. Well, that said. this movie is really good if we are willing to see it for all its worth. It's a comedy ofcourse, but like other good comedies, it has a moral basis as well as some unfolding surprises that change the way we see things. Our first reaction will ofcourse be that the movie is a comedy. And Elliot (the protagonist) offers us some laughs. (The nice guy who tries but just doesn't fit in.) Now at first we may sympathize with his coworkers. (He is annoying.) And this makes him a ripe target for the devil when he is ignored by the woman he loves. The fun then begins when Elliot makes his deal with the devil for 7 wishes. Without going through the whole scenes, the different fantasies keep us from getting bored. And it is also a great contrast to see the coworkers who ignore him are close and sometimes even friendly to him in the fantasies. In the spirit of comedy, we might enjoy the trouble Elliot gets himself into as the Columbian drug lord, the 'little problem' when he is a basketball player, and a bitter surprise when he is a celebrated writer. But along the way, we should realize that Elliot is going through a lot of the things the average person might want. (To be wealthy, to be caring, maybe to be athletic, and intelligent.) Granted, the 5th fantasy is more of a short joke, but that's alright. But the most important thing is that along with Elliot we learn that wishing just doesn't work. At just the right moment, the comedy breaks and we will probably be lead into deep sympathy for the character we initially found annoying. We may have enjoyed Elizabeth's (the devil's) performance and found her entertaining, but the trick she pulls after the 5th fantasy is likely to anger anyone. (And at the same time remind us that her deceptive ways are not to be admired.) Without spoiling the story, the scene where Elliot goes back to confront Elizabeth and gives a moving speech is quite memorable. There are also some really great dvd extras. Make sure you watch the 12 minute HBO featurette. My advice is to give this movie a chance.

Rating:
Summary: Brendan Fraser is why this one is a Guilty Pleasure
Review: In my opinion, Brendan Fraser is one of this country's most underrated actors.

Stop laughing. Check out "The Quiet American" (where he's nothing short of incredible) and "Gods and Monsters" (going up and holding his own against Ian McKellen). Then, he can go completely to other end of the range like the broad comedic skills he puts on display here in "Bedazzled." Of course, it helps that he's directed by Harold Ramis, whose 80s trio of "Caddyshack" (sainthood alone for that), "Stripes" and "Ghostbusters" put him in some untouchable comedic pantheon.

I'm not a bid E. Hurley fan, so - unlike some of the other reviewers here - I'll withhold commentary. You could replace her with anyone, and the effect on the movie would be minor in my mind (well, I'd like to see Maxine Bahns in there, but that's a different thing altogether).

But Fraser - this is a tour de force. I'll point out one of the seven vignettes that make up this movie: his stint as a basketball player, in which his post-game courtside and locker room interviews savage every cliche and stereotype you've ever seen in those interactions. When he's standing there with sweat flying off his body (giving new meaning to the term 'profusely') and spouting nothings (over and over) about "giving 110%"...well, a thing of beauty really. Someone had a great eye and ear for inanities of those interviews. It's those gems that make this movie many people's Guilty Pleasure.

Rating:
Summary: Can I have the original 1967 flick on DVD now, please?
Review: Warning, this contains spoilers:

As a fan of the 1967 original from Peter Cooke and Dudley Moore (Moore's soundtrack for the movie is worth getting if available, it ROCKS), I didn't know what to expect from Harold Remis - though I was expecting it to be funny and somewhat intelligent. I think the phrase "Whoops" is apropos here.

So what do we get? An utterly stereotypical computer support dweeb, stupid wiener jokes (and I don't mean Oscar Meyer, this is 2000 America we're speaking about), and more dreary physical comedy that makes me long for the original even more.

The best thing going for this movie are the interim, between-vignettes where the Devil (Elizabeth Hurley) does something rotten. Incidents include swapping patients' drugs with candy (which was actually quite funny), causing a multi-car pile-up (good), and writing tickets for cars after making the parking meters expire (direct rip-off from the original, but welcomed all the same).

Brendan Frazer (who, unlike Hurley, gets top billing) is dreadfully miscast. Almost fittingly, there's no soul in his performance. Hurley did a much better job at acting the role of the Devil. It also helps that she's British, but please don't come to any conclusions about that. :-) Also, the supporting actors (including Orlando Jones, who is a much better comic actor than to appear in this flick) are wasted.

One thing that really dragged was that, in the original, when the hapless character wanted out, he'd have to blow a raspberry - often in the most difficult of situations. This is funny. What does the guy in the rewrite have to do? Dial "666" on a pager, oh how inventive (not). This effictively sums up the whole movie: Mostly unimaginative, with a few surprises. (since when does a pager have a numeric keypad?!)

And the effects. This movie was cheaply made while trying to look big. If one of the all-time dark comedies ever made (1992's 'Death Becomes Her') can look convincing with a reasonable budget, why can't Bedazzled 2000? (Look not-too-carefully and it's painfully obvious, quite often, that the background and the implanted foreground do not match or look convincing.) Indeed, the original didn't need to resort to mindless eyecandy, so why does the remake have to? I will give the vignette where the guy becomes a big (well, mostly, and this harks back to the Oscar Meyer gag) basketball player some credit as it does look mostly convincing, but overall...

Still, I don't watch movies for effects. I watch them for content. B-2k is somewhat funny when I least expected it (again, the interim bits though I can say that the Presidential vignette was the funniest), and I did chuckle and have the occasional ROTFL moment, but mostly it is unintelligent and almost stereotypic of a British entity remade in the hands of Americans. (or a stereotypic American comedy with all the lame male anatomy jokes, fratboy humor, with only a miniscule amount of wit, if any at all.)

Despite it all, I would say this movie IS worth having for $5 or maybe $10, but not for much more. I'd much rather see the original out, but this new remake does have some going for it - especially after the first 45 minutes. The original is simply more creative, as a whole. The 2000 update, while having some moments, just isn't as great, but has enough to make it worth renting or getting for a reasonable price.

Rating:
Summary: OH YES. THIS TRULY IS THE WORK OF THE DEVIL
Review: SURELY SOME OF US MIGHT BE LIKE BRENDAN FRASIER IN THIS MOVIE. HE'S A LOVE-SICK GUY WHO, ONE NIGHT AT A BAR, MEETS THE DEVIL WHO GRANTS HIM 7 WISHES IN EXCHANGE FOR HIS SOUL. BUT CERTAIN THINGS HAPPEN TO HIS WISHES. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN KIND OF FANTASY/COMEDY, I'D RECOMMEND THIS.

Rating:
Summary: IT'S AWSOME!!!
Review: I first saw this movie in 2000 when it hit the silver screen. It was enjoyable then, and still is so today. Elizabeth Hurley is a smokin' firey hot (no pun intended) Devil, and the cracks and hilarious situations Brendan's character comes into invokes a lot of off-the-wall laughs. The film deals interestingly in the good/bad, in the end ending with God and the Devil sitting in a park playing chess. Overall, a splendiferous comic relief movie deserved of 4 hot-like-fire stars!

Rating:
Summary: If not for Brendan...
Review: Just a quick review to let you know that this movie generally is b.a.d. I'm not sure why I keep seeing Brendan Fraser's face on the front of what looks like really bad comic movies, but he's such a gentlemanly and fun, fun, fun hero in the romantic adventure "The Mummy" (and "The Mummy Returns.") That's what made me break down and see him in this. Thank goodness it was cheap.

Elizabeth Hurley is so very unattractive and walks just...like...a...horse in the only two on-screen things I've seen her in. (She actually narrates a James Bond special feature, and walks just...like...a...horse.) Always in bad form and always playing bad characters, she is. What's up with that?

There are some genuinely funny situations in this movie, but, man, it's not worth paying money to see. Instead, watch Brendan Fraser in "The Mummy" for fun and funny adventure and worthy characters, which also has a truly beautiful and talented actress (Rachel Weisz) as Fraser's cohort.

Rating:
Summary: a sexy woman devil screws over a jew
Review: theres an older version of this which isnt bad either.brandon is a loser whose onbsessed over some chick who doesnt know hes alive.the devil in the form of a very sexy woman grants him 7 vwishes.he wastes almost all of them trying to get that chick.the kids wont really get it.its the best frasier movie with george of the jungle in a distant second.its somewhat of a semi-intellectual romance.the pattern in this movie is all about how blinded a guy can be when hes not thinking with his brain but with his...........who needs one particular chick when you could have many?he wishes to be rich at one point.hes all set up in columbia dealing drugs.his concious takes over and he wants out when his precious alison doesnt love him but only serves as his unfaithful wife.see?he could have made a few improvements and been set but threw it all away over some ungrateful bi@#$!that chick is hot but not as hot as the devil.shes jamacan bacon hellfire hot!she always appears in the form of a fantasy like a cop,meter maid,nurse or teacher.the important message is dont chase after buses or women because youll always get left behind.id like to see a spoof where the guy is more evil and goes with the original drug dealer wish.