BEDAZZLED
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Capsule: : Harold Ramis writes and directs
a remake of one of the funniest comedies of all
time. At its best it is more of the same sort
of humor that was the first film. Unfortunately
Ramis cannot match the hilarious, literate
banter of the original and the remake has the
feel of a dumbed down version. If you cannot
get your hands on the original, this is at least
an above average comedy. Rating: 5 (0 to 10),
low +1 (-4 to +4)
I think you can learn a lot about somebody by just knowing what comedies he finds funny. Within my top three funniest comedies is the 1967 BEDAZZLED, a film directed by Stanley Donen, but most of the humor and creativity came from the erudite British comedy team of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore who with this film were at the top of their form. The humor of that film could be lampooning Christopher Marlowe's play DOCTOR FAUSTUS (the inspiration for BEDAZZLED) one moment and then be drolly slapstick the next. And perhaps the moment after that it would be presenting some profound insight on the Bible and religion. Being so eclectic and literate, the original is a film that gracefully shows its age but never dates. It is a comedy that does not need to be remade for modern audiences. If anything, it needs to be annotated. Remaking it is a project that is hazardous from the first.
In the remake Elliot Richardson (played by Brendan Fraser) works on a computer help desk. Most of the people in his office would apparently prefer solitary confinement to having to deal with him. Elliot has a not so secret crush on the demure Allison (Frances O'Connor) who has worked in the same office for four years and never even noticed the obnoxious Elliot was there. Elliot runs into Allison in a bar and tries to make small talk only to be snubbed. But wait, the evening is not over. There is an absolutely stunning woman in the bar who seems more than a little interested in Elliot. Elliot is skeptical, but no, it turns out she is not a hooker. She is something a little bit worse. She is the Devil (Elizabeth Hurley) in human form. And she has a deal for Elliot. She will give him seven wishes in return for his soul. With each wish Elliot can become somebody else. He can specify what he will be like, what other people will be like, anything that comes into his head. And with each wish, of course, the Devil finds some nasty way to live up to the letter of the wish but to completely subvert the spirit. After all, isn't that what the Devil does?
First, what was done well about this film? Some of the jokes are fairly clever and some (only some) of those are original. I did find myself laughing at this film. The credit sequence gives you a Devil's eye view of the world and the people in it with little tags to tell you their deep secrets. That is a clever idea. The premise of the multiple wishes and how the Devil is tricky is done almost as well as in the earlier film. With each wish Elliot's appearance changes to fit the wish and at least some of his appearances are quite funny. The Devil's general mischief is not as inspired as it is in the first film, but several of the jokes are funny. If the first film did not exist, this would be at least a clever, watchable, and enjoyable comedy.
The problem is that there are places where this film is almost as good as the original, but many other places where it in no way comes close. Almost all of the banter based on the classics of literature and religion are gone. In the original the holes in the main character's wishes made subtle philosophical points. There is little such intelligence in this screenplay. What this film does offer that the first film did not is some machine guns, a short chase involving a helicopter, and a large traffic accident, all fairly common and by now boring stuff. The ending of the original was hardly brilliant, but the remake simplifies it and dumbs it down so that it is maudlin and really betrays the spirit of the film.
Brendan Fraser's best work was in the serious dramas SCHOOL TIES and GODS AND MONSTERS, but through practice he is becoming an accomplished comic actor. He manages a tour de force playing several externally different characterizations, reminding one of Alec Guinness in KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS. The film's replacement of the lackluster Peter Cook with the seductive Elizabeth Hurley as the Devil may be slightly an improvement, but the lackluster was part of the joke. One feels that if the Devil could look any way he/she wanted to, that the choice would be to look like Hurley. Frances O'Connor needs to do little but be demure and attractive, and she does little more in her role. It is interesting that English-born women were chosen as the two stars of this remake of an English comedy.
For me, this attempt was as misguided as would be an attempt to remake CITIZEN KANE. The result could have been worse, I suppose, but naturally my recommendation would be to see the original rather than the remake. Still this version gets 5 on the 0 to 10 scale and a low +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper@lucent.com
Copyright 2000 Mark R. Leeper
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