Review of Bedazzled (2000) by Clark B — 14 Aug 2010

This is a wildly uneven comedy. It's tempting to say that this remake doesn't live up to the Peter Cook/Dudley Moore original, but the truth is, that one was pretty uneven too. It was dark and satirical, this one is slapsticky and ...um.."empowering". (I guess that's the word.).

Okay, let's get something out of the way first: Brendan Fraser is in this. Maybe you don't like the guy, he seems to generate a lot of interweb hatred, but whatever else you have to say about him, you have to admit he is working his butt off in this movie. He may not possess the comic gifts of Dudley Moore or even Peter Sellers, who excelled at this sort of thing, but I respect him for trying. I'm being sincere. He's not afraid to look stupid. Many of the jokes fall flat in "Bedazzled", leaving Fraser with egg all over his face, but he carries on to the next dumb setup cheerfully, and I admire him for it. I haven't seen "Encino Man" or "The Mummy" or (come to think of it) any of his other movies, but based on this, I like the guy, so sue me.

Here the devil grants him seven wishes in exchange for his soul. The second or third wish, where Fraser wants to be a caring sensitive partner to the girl of his dreams, is the funniest. I laughed my head off, then I rewound it, played it again and re-laughed my head off. (I'm laughing right now thinking back on it.) I didn't laugh all that much through the rest of movie, and the ending is just awful, but that scene was so funny and Fraser brings such a "can-do" attitude, I'm giving this three stars. 60% Tomatoes.