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A
blue collared geek working at a go nowhere job makes a pact with the
devil to win the woman he loves; pretty simple premise. In this, Harold
Ramis (The Director) makes the devil's incantation in the form of a
beautiful woman (Elizabeth Hurley). The entire movie's premise is whacky
from the beginning. In the movie, the devil offers Brendan Fraser's
character different situations in which to win the girl he has a crush
on. But, her being the devil, includes many odd different twists which
screw up a typically perfect dream sequence. Brendan Fraser is about as
funny as he can be in this movie... which is not very.
His
whacky characters and outtakes are helped more by his supporting cast
and make-up effects. Brendan is not really a new Groucho Marx or Jerry
Lewis, but he tries really hard and pretty much succeeds at getting a
laugh out of me. The plot is clichéd but surrounded with great comical
twists. Elizabeth Hurley is also a great aspect of this film. Aside from
her incredibly great looks as a nurse, cheerleader, meter maid, and (my
favorite) a bad schoolteacher, she is a great and radiant supporting
character. The movie also manages to squeeze a bit of biblical theories
and messages like the battle of good and evil, the temptations of the
soul and god. What I particularly liked was the fact that they made god
black. That was an original twist.
This
is not without its faults. The premise is lackluster with a lot of
sexual jokes which seem to bombard any type of heart this film attempts
to achieve. Though Elizabeth Hurley is hot, her British accent is also
very hard to make out at times. Brendan Fraser should stick to drama and
action. His comedy doesn't reach very far and his timing is w-a-a-y off.
I feel so sorry for him going to great lengths with horrible make-up
effects to achieve some laughs here and there. The laughs are very few.
In the end you're left with a sick feeling and begin to make pacts with
the devil to stop this movie.
Tip
for Brendan Fraser: Stick to drama or action; comedy just isn't his
forte, and it shows. Though "Bedazzled" does have its occasional funny
moments, it's just another weak vehicle for Fraser.
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