Bedazzled Review
by "Rose 'Bams' Cooper" (bams AT 3blackchicks DOT com)October 23rd, 2000
'3BlackChicks Review...'
BEDAZZLED (2000)
Rated R; running time 93 minutes
Genre: Comedy
IMDB site: http://us.imdb.com/Details?0230030
Official site: http://www.bedazzledmovie.com/
Written by: Larry Gelbart, Harold Ramis, Peter Tolan (based on the story by Peter Cook)
Directed by: Harold Ramis
Cast: Brendan Fraser, Elizabeth Hurley, Frances O'Connor, Orlando Jones
Review Copyright Rose Cooper, 2000
Review URL: http://www.3blackchicks.com/bamsbedazzled.html
The heavy message and soul-searing images in BAMBOOZLED took a lot out of me, so I looked forward to seeing a light comedy afterwards. And BEDAZZLED was about as light as it tolerably gets.
The Story (WARNING: **spoilers contained below**):
BEDAZZLED, a remake of the 1967 Faustian romantic comedy starring Dudley Moore as the hapless soul willing to sell his soul to Peter Cook's Devil, stars Brendan Fraser as Elliot Richards (aka The Hapless Soul) and Elizabeth Hurley as The Devil.
Poor dorky Elliot is a computer consultant living the stereotypical geek life; he tries too hard to get people to like him, his co-workers (including a restrained Orlando Jones as Dan) don't want to hang out with him, and the girl of his dreams, Allison (Frances O'Connor), barely knows he's alive. When Elliot wishes aloud that he'd do anything to have Allison in his life, The Devil appears - to see if "anything" includes Elliot's soul, in exchange for seven "be careful what you wish for" wishes.
Naturally - you guessed it - Wackiness Ensues.
The Upshot:
You've heard me say it before: remakes generally grind my gizzards. This one, though, didn't seem to bother me as much, for some reason. Elizabeth Hurley is no Peter Cook; likewise, Brendan Fraser can't touch the Comedy Stylings of Dudley Moore. But Fraser and Hurley worked reasonably well together, the ObPuns weren't too obviously painful [The "DV8" Club. Ha.] and the supporting players were given enough to do (especially in the basketball wish segment) to not totally make one wonder why they were given individual names (instead of "Elliot's Friend One, Two, and Three"). And though the movie petered out once the "...and what did we learn?" phase kicked into high gear, the fun of watching dorky Elliot come back even more wacky as the butt uuuuugly Sensitive Guy, was worth suffering through the obvious Lesson we were meant to learn about Being Happy With Ourselves.
[Why yes, that was the shortest review I've done to date. What else is there to say? "I laughed, I didn't cry, I didn't want to run away and join the circus"? It was a fun way to waste 93 minutes. It's not exactly brain surgery, y'know].
The "Black Factor" [ObDisclaimer: We Are Not A Monolith]:
I must've gotten too much of whatever The Devil gave to Elliot to make him so emotionally sensitive. Can't figure out why else I'd notice the opening credit labels "she" placed on the jumping African ("Bad Credit") or the old Black diner patron ("Tips 5%"). I'm sure it was just an after-effect of having been Awakened by BAMBOOZLED not long before watching this movie. Besides, the BF in BEDAZZLED can't be all that bad, considering who "God" wound up being...
Bammer's Bottom Line:
A cute remake that is neither earthshakingly funny nor overly sacrilegious (to the original, that is), BEDAZZLED provided enough laughs to make it worth seeing once. Though unless you're a glutton for punishment like me (having seen four new movies over two days), you might want to put it off for the matinee.
BEDAZZLED (rating: flashing yellowlight):
But now I miss Dudley Moore and Peter Cook that much more.
Rose "Bams" Cooper /~\
Webchick and Editor, /','\ 3BlackChicks Review /','`'\
Movie Reviews With Flava! /',',','/`, Copyright Rose Cooper, 2000 `~-._'c /
EMAIL: [email protected] `\ ( http://www.3blackchicks.com/ /====\
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
