TNMC

Shankster

I have mixed feeling about this film, on one hand there's Elizabeth Hurley, solid acting by Fraser and social/religious issues brought to light. On the other hand there's a plot that is predictable and slow and those same social/religious issues. Let me see if I can explain.

Elizabeth Hurley is HOT and this movie totally exploits her hotness in the number of outfits (or lack there of) she parades around in throughout the movie. They've done a good job of having Liz exude sexiness and badness while stopping just short of actual nudity. Not that I have a problem with nudity, in fact I might have preferred a little more skin, but hey America seems to have gotten a little bit more conservative in it's movie making.

That conservatism brings me to my next point the social/religious/moral issues raised by the movie. The point was fairly simple, the devil looks good, makes the life that she can offer look good and appealing, but somehow she manages to pervert or fall short of expectations. Elliot makes several wishes and in each case she gives him exactly what he asks for, but there are certain things that turn out wrong (he's gay, he's a drug lord, he has to pay for his food, etc...) In the end Elliot is disappointed and not sure what to do, the only thing he knows is he wants his soul back. He manages to do the one thing that can be done to break the contract and things work out well for him. All he has to do is ONE selfless act and he is "saved." This was a well presented point and some of the visuals were extremely well done (especially the difference in the Devil's club after Elliot's first wish and before his last wish.) I only have one problem. The moral/social/religious point came across humanistic in the end. The movie described biblical Hell well and then finished with the trite "The power to be good or bad is in each of us." I'm not really into the mixed metaphors, I'm not sure I was looking for a blatantly biblical message either, I just wanted something stronger than the trite note it ended on.

My final point is that the movie seemed to drag on and on (sort of like this review.) Even my wife who is sucked in by 99% of all movies was happy when it finally ended. Fraser was strong in each of his "Characters" but you knew where every single one of them was headed.

All in all a movie that I recommend you wait for the video and don't waste your seven bucks.

Batman

Oh, this was so close to being great. Unfortunately it took a right turn back in Albuquerque and veered off into mediocre. It's a damn shame too. It had a lot of potential.

There's nothing terribly original to the premise. In fact this is a remake of the 1967 classic starring Dudley Moore and Peter Cook. However, instead of Cook playing the devil, we get the luscious Elizabeth Hurley. She does a damn good job too. Think about it. If the devil is supposed to tempt people towards evil, wouldn't it make sense to look tempting? The biggest problem with the devil isn't Hurley. She just wasn't allowed be truely evil.

Oh sure, she gets to do lots of little evil things like causing parking meters to expire early and switching M&Ms for medicine. But when the movie nears its climax the devil wimps out. Director Harold Ramis shackles the story to the concept that god and the devil aren't about being good and evil. Instead they seem more concerned with how people live their lives. The devil doesn't really want Elliot's soul. She wants to teach a lesson about going after the things he wants in life instead of just wishing for them. It's a lovely concept but it makes for dull entertainment.

Don't get me wrong, this movie isn't bad. It just isn't as lively as it could be. You might notice a similarity in theme to Ramis' Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray. It too focused on the idea of learning to concentrate on the important things in life instead of material desires. The difference is that Groundhog Day was lively and greatly entertaining. Bedazzled has some good laughs but it can't seem to sustain any kind of comic momentum.