THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1987 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: Broadband supernatural comedy has insight, slapstick, violence, horror, special effects, sophisticated comedy, profanity, a monster, vomit scenes, Jack Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer, Susan Sarandon, and Cher. For fans of six or seven of the above only.
John Updike is a prize-winning writer of serious literature about people finding their identities and that sort of thing. His masterwork was his trilogy of novels RABBIT RUN, RABBIT REDUX, and RABBIT IS RICH. There was something of a stir when he wrote THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK about three women in a provincial Connecticut village who have a brush with a warlock. People thought he was too good a writer to fall back on the fantasy market. My guess is that it was a calculated financial move. I have no figures but I'd be surprised if it was not his most profitable book.
Now THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK has been adapted into a film by George Miller--you know, the man who directed the "Mad Max" films. Add a musical score by John Williams, a cast like Jack Nicholson, Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Susan Sarandon, and makeup by Rob Bottin (THE HOWLING) and you've got one heck of a motley crew contributing to a movie. With a crew like this you might expect a film that is something of a hodge-podge. That's pretty good expecting on your part. This film is an incredible hodge-podge, in fact. The film can't decide if it is light fantasy, horror, soul-searching literature, comedy, Peyton Place, or what. I would use a cliche like "This film throws in everything but the kitchen sink," but it wouldn't be quite true. Instead I'll say this film throws in NEARLY everything including the kitchen sink. Warlock Jack Nicholson--I forget his character's name-- breezes into a provincial Connecticut town after he is wished to do so by three unattached women (played by Pfeiffer, Sarandon, and Cher). He takes up residence in an old house where witches were once burned (Pretty hard to find. Actually only one person in North America was ever sentenced to be burned for witchcraft. He escaped. Salem has a very small witch-hunt compared to what used to go on it Europe and all the Salem witches who were executed were hanged.) The three women have simultaneous affairs with Nicholson and all seem to be taking it amicably. Then things start to sour.
Nicholson glides through his part, sometimes impishly childlike, often ranting and bellowing like Ralph Kramden. The three women are believable in their parts and perhaps more realistic than most women in witchcraft films, but don't look for them at Oscar time. The film has some powerful scenes of evil--some seem inspired by SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES--but as good an actor as Nicholson is, he never rises to the malevolence of Jonathan Pryce in SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES.
THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK has its moments but they do not add up to one whole movie of any kind. It has something for everyone but it will have enough of anything only for real fans. Rate it a 0 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
ihnp4!mtgzz!leeper
mtgzz!leeper@rutgers.rutgers.edu
P.S. To save having everyone e-mailing me Nicholson's character's name, yes, I do remember it, but it's an inside joke.
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