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.