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Monday, April 2, 2012

Back in Time A to Z: Bedazzled (2000)

This movie has one of the best intros ever. All these people zipping around in fast-motion and then paused with insights into their character in a bubble over them, sort of giving you the perspective of any angels or demons keeping an eye on us. Comes off as both cute and creepy, setting a good tone for this tongue-in-cheek exploration of the nature of our souls and how our choices shape our lives.

Directed by Harold Ramis (Groundhog Day, Analyze This), it has the wit and intelligence at which Ramis excels. The movie focuses on the life of Elliot Richards (Brendan Fraser). Elliot is a bit of a dork as the movie starts, not very well liked by his co-workers and socially inept. He pines for his co-worker Alison who is obviously leagues apart from him in temperament and life path. The Devil (Elizabeth Hurley) sees Elliot as an easy mark and soon has him signing his soul away for a chance at a better life with Alison. He gets seven wishes, which seems like a lot until he sees how the Devil can twist his words and intentions.

The Commander's Rating: Three out of five Vulcan salutes. Silly and quotable.
Pros: The goofy version of Brendan Fraser plus the sultry version of Elizabeth Hurley. There are a number of very quotable scenes and some Fraser beefcake if he's your thing.
Cons: Neither as deep nor as funny as it could be. Solid, just not exceptional. It also makes assumptions or statements about morality that some viewers may find objectionable. (It's somewhere between the Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis and Kevin Smith's movie Dogma.)
Recommendation: Great for a weeknight to unwind. Pop some popcorn and get ready for a few laughs. It's a remake of a Dudley Moore/Peter Cook/Raquel Welch movie from 1967 which is also worth checking out.

4 comments:

  1. This is one I passed on at the time, but somehow seems more appealing now. May make this a NetFlix moment, even on three out of five.

    Red.

    Checking in from A to Z.

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  2. Me too, Red! I'm adding it to my queue now...

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  3. I was hanging on every word... You describe extremely well.

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  4. I had no idea this was a remake! Of course, I grew up on Dudley Moore movies, so there is a chance I did, in fact, see the original, and just don't remember it.

    Shannon at The Warrior Muse, co-host of the 2012 #atozchallenge! Twitter: @AprilA2Z

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