Post by Vits on Jun 3, 2019 11:11:40 GMT
BEDAZZLED 1967 is a very peculiar movie. It has both high-brow and low-brow humour. One minute I'm laughing at the witty dialogue; the next minute I'm rolling my eyes at a gag that seems like it was written by a pre-teen. Look, a guy blowing a raspberry isn't funny the 1st time, let alone the 7th time. Dudley Moore's performance is too over-the-top, but he and Peter Cook did a good job when they added the pop culture references into the script (like the parody of The Beatles). They're old but not dated. I think any modern viewer can recognize them (I did).
5/10
BEDAZZLED 1967 was a high-concept comedy. BEDAZZLED 2000 starts out as one, but it tries to be deeper during the last part. That makes the tone uneven, but at least it's more consistent about its humour. THE DEVIL is now played a woman, which opens the door for a lot of gags about her beauty, but don't be fooled. He/She still has a lot of witty lines. That's why casting a beautiful actress wasn't enough. They needed someone like Elizabeth Hurley who could do the dialogue justice. Brendan Fraser's performance is better than Dudley Moore's. Yes, he's over-the-top too, but he makes his character a loveable loser. I'm confused about the rules whenever every day guy ELLIOT RICHARDSON asks for a wish that gives him a new job/personality/nationality. At times, he knows what his new self's backstory is; at times, he doesn't. Early on, he confronts THE DEVIL about her ruining his wishes through semantics, which is exactly what she does... so why does he keep asking for wishes? Throughout the movie, we see THE DEVIL taking on new indentities and doing evil deeds. One of them is a teacher who tells her students not to study. That's supposed to be evil?
7/10
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5/10
BEDAZZLED 1967 was a high-concept comedy. BEDAZZLED 2000 starts out as one, but it tries to be deeper during the last part. That makes the tone uneven, but at least it's more consistent about its humour. THE DEVIL is now played a woman, which opens the door for a lot of gags about her beauty, but don't be fooled. He/She still has a lot of witty lines. That's why casting a beautiful actress wasn't enough. They needed someone like Elizabeth Hurley who could do the dialogue justice. Brendan Fraser's performance is better than Dudley Moore's. Yes, he's over-the-top too, but he makes his character a loveable loser. I'm confused about the rules whenever every day guy ELLIOT RICHARDSON asks for a wish that gives him a new job/personality/nationality. At times, he knows what his new self's backstory is; at times, he doesn't. Early on, he confronts THE DEVIL about her ruining his wishes through semantics, which is exactly what she does... so why does he keep asking for wishes? Throughout the movie, we see THE DEVIL taking on new indentities and doing evil deeds. One of them is a teacher who tells her students not to study. That's supposed to be evil?
During the "Intellectual" wish, ALLISON GARDNER (the love interest) leaves after ELLIOT tells her he's gay. Shouldn't she be angry and/or confused as to why he hit on her and then insisted he's straight despite his lover being right in front of them? During the climax, ELLIOT's final wish is for ALLISON to have a happy life. This self-less act breaks the deal, so he doesn't have to give up his soul. Why wasn't the deal broken when he said "I want to do something for mankind. I wish to be the President of the United States"? Even THE DEVIL says "That's the most unselfish thing I've ever heard"? At the end, one of ELLIOT's co-workers makes fun of him while others watch and enjoy it. He stands up to them. Wait a minute. This scene implies that they were bullies. No, they were normal people who found him annoying and didn't want to hang out with him. They never made fun of him until now. Why is the movie re-writing him as a victim just so he can have an arc?
7/10
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You can read comments of other movies in my blog.