User reviews

"Bedazzled" tells of a tech support geek (need I say more?) who sells his soul to the devil (Hurley) for seven wishes which he attempts to use to get close to a girl at work (O'Connor). The flick is a situational comedy which takes the audience on a fun ride as Fraser's wishes turn him into one exaggerated comic-book-type caricature after another. A cute flick sans slapstick, pratfalls, and jokes, "Bedazzled" offers lots of outrageous situations, some sentimental moments, and a whiff of philosophy. A fun watch with a cute ending, lots of eye candy for the guys, and Fraser doing what he does best playing a big, naive, smiling guy.

The makers of Bedazzled were not out to make a classic comedy,they were simply trying to make us laugh.Their mission was a successful one.Bedazzled is full of laughs and great character acting by Brendan Fraser and Frances O'Connor.After many forgettable roles in several forgettable films,Brendan Fraser has really graduated into one of cinemas' big time players in just the last couple of years.As I said,Bedazzled will probably not go down as a comedy classic,it's just your basic comedy filled with laughs from start to finish,and that's good enough for me.It would be a worthy addition to the comedy section of anyone's home library.Thumbs up!

I watched this film with low expectations, thinking it was just going to be Elizabeth Hurley (who I always think is underrated) in lots of revealing outfits.

And yes, there is a fair bit of that, but there is more. This is actually a very funny film with some nice messages along the way.

Good fun, well worth checking out.

Wealth. Power. Admiration. They all sound pretty enticing. Indeed many people spend their life in pursuit of these or similar goals and are willing to sacrifice anything and everything in the process. But what if there was an easy way to do it, say, selling your soul? You're not really using it anyways .As the saying goes, the day I decided to do it there'd probably be a glut on the market.

Elliot Richards is, for lack of a better word, a dork. Relegated to the most dreaded of worker hells - tech support - he is a social pariah. Mocked by his colleagues, he spends his time trying to be cool and is hopelessly in love with one of his co-workers who doesn't even know that he exists. While lamenting his lot in life he casually mentions that he would give anything to have his beloved Allison. Enter the Princess of Darkness, stage left.

Although the basics between this movie and the 1967 classic of the same name are similar, there are so many differences (styles of humor, characters, plot, etc) that comparisons are pointless. So I won't even try. Bedazzled offers something so few comedies do these days - laughs, and lots or them, without relying on endless juvenile scatological gags. I thoroughly enjoyed the physical transformations that Elliot, Allison, and his cohorts undergo (several of which are amazing) each time he makes a wish. The spins on the wishes are especially amusing: for example, when Elliot wishes for power and wealth, he fails to take consider the how, and wakes up as a cuckolded Colombian drug lord whose kingdom is quickly collapsing around him. Elliot soon discovers that when dealing with the devil - surprise, surprise - nothing is, as it seems.

I have liked Brendan Fraser since his role in "Encino Man". Since then, he has proven himself capable of doing both schtick ("The Mummy") and serious roles ("Gods and Monsters"). With this part he shows just how versatile he is: rather than one role, he takes on seven, and does so admirably (I particularly enjoyed sensitive guy - I was laughing so hard my side hurt). Elizabeth Hurley is deliciously wicked in a role that she was born to play (if reports about her are true.) and it appears that she enjoyed herself. Her spin on the ultimate temptress is hilarious and personally, I'll take leather-clad vixens over slimy snakes any day. Francis O'Connor, brings the same verve and versatility to Allison that she displayed in "Mansfield Park", although here she is less subdued. The supporting cast provides the finishing touch rounding out the film nicely.

Although it didn't dazzle me, I was greatly amused.

Bedazzled is one of those simple fun comedy movies I still like to put on my plate no matter that I watched them a couple of times already. Elizabeth Hurley is for sure one of the hottest devils ever and Brendan Fraser as simple guy with a big heart in big trouble just charming. No doubt, this mix of romance and comedy is no Oscar material but funny as hell and entertaining: Bedazzled, like Groundhog Day, The Devil Wears Prada, Easy A or 10 Things I Hate About You never bore me - no matter how many times I put them on my screen already, and no matter that my hair begins to turn gray - if I'm in the mood for some light romancing comedy, those are still good ones.

This movie was like making a good sandwich with Wonder Bread. The beginning is slow, and I didn't like the end, but the middle was funny as hell.

It takes a long time for this movie to really get started. Elliot Richardson is such a loser at the beginning that it is painful to watch. He isn't even one of those lovable losers like Rob Schneider's copy man. He is a painfully annoying loser. His office mates are probably the biggest jerks that anyone has ever had the misfortune of working with.

Just about the time I was getting really uncomfortable watching such annoying characters the movie finally starts. Once Elliot meets the devil the movie gets pretty good. Parts are a lot like `George of The Jungle.' There are a lot of really corny lines, and site gags. Brendan Fraser does those type of lines really well, and I really enjoyed them.

Elizabeth Hurley has been panned for her performance, but I thought she did quite well. She seemed a perfect fit for the devil, and I could really picture her as a devilish vixen toying with Elliot's mind. A lot like Lucy holding the ball for Charlie Brown, the devil gets Elliot's trust only to pull everything out from under him. The idea of the devil being a vixen works better than an old man, but Peter Cook is a better actor than Elizabeth Hurley. Anyway, just being Elizabeth Hurley is worth a few bucks right there.

The movie built well on itself. Each wish was a little faster paced and funnier than the last. Right as his wishes were coming to an end I was thinking he was close to a classic.

Then the end came. The last half hour of this thing turns from a corny comedy (a very good one at that) to a sappy fable (and not the greatest either). It wasn't awful, it just was a bit cookie cutter and corporate. Everything was put into its nice little package, and everyone feels good at the end.

All in all, not a bad way to spend two hours.

I never saw the original "Bedazzled", so I can't compaire really. To tell the truth, I didn't even know there was an original. But I thought this "Bedazzled" was very good. Elizabeth Hurly makes a great devil. She's sexy, funny, and intelligent. Brandon Frasier does a good job as well with his stereotypical roles. Caveman, tough guy, and now a nerd. Nothing oscar material. But he always does his best, despite that I think he'll never get out of these roles. "Bedazzled" has some funny moments. I would recommend this if it's a rainy day. Other than that, it's nothing too special you'd make time for. But I would recommend it.

7/10

The credits include the following line: `special thanks to Stanley Donen'. For what? Not complaining? If this film hadn't been released, Donen's original "Bedazzled" might have been re-released, and I might have got a chance to see it. I'm sure it's better.

Peter Cook's devil in the original was (by all accounts) not just a plot device, but a character. Elizabeth Hurley's devil is no more than a granter of wishes and a changer of costumes. All the same I think I preferred her to Brendan Fraser, because I at least had SOME idea what kind of character she was meant to be playing. She was playing the Devil. She may not have had much personality, but at least she didn't CHANGE personalities whenever she changed costumes, as Fraser did.

There's a scene at the end where Elliot (the Brendan Fraser character, the dupe) finally stands up to the office workers who had been making his life hell. You can only buy that scene by forgetting the start of the movie. They didn't make his life hell - HE made THEIR lives hell. He continually forced himself on all of them with his inane blather and his almost sickening craving to be accepted; and while they all loathed him, they were never openly rude or hurtful. (Until the end, when one of them made fun of him simply so that he could be punished for doing so.)

We're never sure if Fraser is meant to be a geek, a doormat, or an everyman. If he's meant to be all three at once, the script fails to establish this, either. When he's thrust into strange situations it's never as funny as it might have been, since don't know where his reactions are coming from. Treat the disjointed story as sketch comedy, though, and it fares little better: the jokes aren't imaginative enough. Take that opening sequence, in which the devil "freeze-frames" randomly chosen individuals and we see tags like "good", "evil" and "drinks from the carton". Unfortunately, "drinks from the carton" is about as clever as it gets.

I originally saw this movie because it stars Brendan Fraser, an actor who can't seem to make a bad movie, and often makes great movies, such as "Blast From the Past".

The big surprise was Elizabeth Hurley. As certain as Vivien Leigh was meant to play Scarlett O'Hara, no one could have done a better job playing The Devil...in this case a sly, brilliantly cunning, sexy devil who playfully torments Brendan by dooming each of his wishes with unintended, nasty surprises. She effortlessly leads him along like a puppy dog on a leash.

Besides her comedic wit, (and some clever writing) I would be remiss not to mention that Elizabeth Hurley looks perfect, absolutely perfect, in every scene. Her clipped, refined British accent is the aural equivalent of a film shot on Kodachrome.

Bedazzled exudes a positive, good-natured warmth, and is proof that comedy doesn't have to depend on silly sophomoric antics, pratfalls, or foul language.

ADDENDUM January 10, 2008. After two years, I have no idea if anyone has ever read this review. Even if you don't like it, please give me a thumbs up or thumbs down, just to let me know someone read it.

Elizabeth Hurley, still best known for her '90s relationship with Hugh Grant, and Brendan Fraser, star of Furry Vengeance, team up for this 2000 remake of Dudley Moore and Peter Cook's acerbic 1967 comedy Bedazzled: it sounds like a recipe for disaster, but even though the style of comedy is far removed from the original, Bedazzled 2000 succeeds in delivering its fair share of laughs, as well plenty of sexiness courtesy of Hurley.

Fraser plays social pariah Elliot, who finds it hard to make friends and can only dream of a relationship with the apple of his eye, work colleague Alison (Frances O'Connor). When Elliot says that he would do anything to have Alison in his life, the Devil (Hurley) seizes the opportunity and offers the luckless loser seven wishes in exchange for his soul. What follows is a series of comedic episodes that see Fraser adopting numerous different guises, allowing the actor to surprise the audience with his versatility (Fraser is almost unrecognisable at times), while Hurley is predictably wooden, but distracts the viewer by slipping into several very sexy outfits for the connecting interludes.

Of course, the devil being the devil, none of Elliot's wishes go according to plan, which leads to some very funny situations for the hapless dork, all of which are confidently handled by director Harold Ramis. This being a Hollywood film, it all works out well in the end for Elliot, who beats the princess of darkness at her own game thanks to his selfless heart, before finding love, not with Alison, but with her dorky doppelganger who just happens to have moved in next door.

6.5/10, rounded up to 7 for giving me the phrase 'small, wet, salty badges of emotional truth' and for Hurley's amazing array of hotter-than-hell get-ups, which include sexy nurse, sexy traffic warden, sexy cop, sexy teacher, sexy cheerleader, sexy bikini, sexy angel, sexy lawyer, and, in the deleted 'rock star' scene, sexy maid.

Remaking the Peter Cook/Dudley Moore original is a dangerous proposal at best and this one fails in so many ways. First, all the philosophical and wickedly delicious satire that grounds the Peter Cook/Dudley Moore original are ruthlessly thrown out like yesterday's bathwater. There are no conversations, much less witty or intelligent conversations, about the nature of God, the Devil, and man. Either the writers were too dim to *get it*, didn't think the audience would put up with an intellectual dimension or most likely just couldn't top the original script.

Second, I can't believe anyone would be stupid enough to cast a woman as the Devil, much less a beautiful one. The whole point of Fraser's character's bargain with the Devil was to win a girl he was too shy to approach. If you don't see the incongruity of conspiring with a woman who looks like Elizabeth Hurley to win some other woman, I can't explain it to you. Sure enough, even the writers of this dreck woke up one morning and realized, "Hey, Elliot's quite likely to notice that the Devil is more attractive than any other option on his plate!", necessitating a scene where Hurley changes into a HUGE DEVIL, complete with warts, yellow eyes, and the full range of big-budget Special Effects, to squelch THAT idea.

Finally, as another reviewer has noted, Elliot's wishes are just scattershot semi-random stabs at getting himself into a situation he can live with. There's no successive refinement of the wishes to take into account what happened earlier, thus no true matching of wits (the traditional essence of Faust tales) between the Devil and Elliot.

The sets are opulent and the costumes exquisite. Big production values all around. Unfortunately for this empty shell of an imitation, Cook and Moore's original proves yet again that money isn't necessary to make a good movie, but brains are.

No, this isn't the best or funniest comedy in the world, but I certainly enjoyed it. There is a fair amount of really good comedy in the film to keep you entertained. ...And of course there's Elizabeth Hurley...need I say more?

The story is a fun one and quite the fantasy, but nonetheless, it's entertaining. While not being anything terribly profound, this film definitely has a point to make, be happy with yourself and only you can make things happen, don't rely on others for your happiness.

The acting in this film is very good. Brendan Fraser struts his acting talent in this film quite nicely, playing virtually 5 or 6 characters throughout the film. Brendan really is a talented actor and should get some notice for his role in this film. Orlando Jones, Paul Adelstein, and Toby Huss also deserve a great deal of notice for their work in this film, all three of them play various types of characters in the film and do it quite nicely. Elizabeth Hurley and her ever-changing wardrobe should be reason enough for any guy to watch this film. She looks nothing short of fantastic in every scene. Frances O'Connor was a nice choice for the part of Alison / Nicole (also playing more than one role very nicely).

All in all, this is a fun, cute movie with some really good comedy. I would recommend this film to anyone that likes those types of film, or is just a fan of one of the actors or director Harold Ramis. I hope you enjoy the film, thanks for reading,

-Chris

Bedazzled has a basic "Be careful what you wish for" premise. Brendan Fraser plays Elliot. He is a relatively annoying cubicle dweller who has few friends and no love life. One night at a bar he meets up with who else but Satan herself! Yadda Yadda, etc etc, and he signs away his soul for seven wishes. As you may expect, his wishes turn out to have some fatal flaw that is exploited by the devil and comic hi-jinks ensue.

While this movie isn't going to blow anyone away, it was definately above average. Brendan Fraser did an admirable job playing multiple 'characters' during the wish sequences. Although his base character introduced at the beginning of the film may have been a bit over the top. I think it's his best performance since "School Ties". Elizabeth Hurley provides little more than eye candy as the devil. The supporting cast of Elliot's friends is also quite good as they too travel with him throughout the wish sequences.

I only had two major complaints about the plot. First, Elliot never learns from his mistakes. He continues time and again to make very open-ended and generic wishes. By the third or fourth wish you can pretty much predict the outcome. Second, the love interest, played by Frances O'Conner isn't really defined enough early on. It seems the only reason she is the love interest is because she's a hot blond who happens to work at the same company as Elliot.

If you take the movie for what it is, you'll enjoy yourself. However, I feel Bedazzled could have been so much better had Elliot not been so dumb. A battle of wits between Elliot (making wishes) and the devil (sabotaging the wishes) would have given the film a great added angle.

A lot of people have criticized this film and not without reason, but I still find it pretty fun with some really very funny parts. It certainly is better than many of Fraser's other comedies, but can't hold a candle to Blast from the Past.

It is not exactly original or brilliant, but it basically succeeds at being entertaining. Some of the scenarios in which Fraser's character found himself are really very funny and work quite well at achieving their comic effect, even though a number of parts aren't all that funny or intelligent.

The film is not without its valuable message, either, even though it is an ancient and very well-worn one. The whole point about simply trying to be who you are, not wishing for the world, riches, etc., is still relevant and meaningful, giving the film at least some additional depth. Thus, it is a little bit (however little it is) more than purely mindless entertainment.

The 1967 original, starring Dudley Moor and Peter Cook and directed by Stanley Donen was a droll dark comedy that bombed when it was first released to theatres but has developed a very strong cult following over the years. This 2000 version, directed by Harold Ramis is not so much a remake as a latter-day re-imagining of the story. Aside from the basic premise, the two films share little else in common. This new version is a wacky, fast-paced farce that makes up in some giddily amusing moments what it lacks in true wickedness.

Brendan Fraser is perfectly cast as the hapless computer tech who makes a deal with Satan; granted seven wishes in exchange for eventual possession of his soul, we witness each wish he makes as his life becomes a series of colorful and very funny misadventures. Some first-rate make-up and special effects transform Fraser and his world every time he changes wishes. Elizabeth Hurley is extremely fetching and quite likable as the embodiment of Satan, although I wish she'd showed a bit more evilness than glee in her characterization.

All in all, a very entertaining movie that, of course, leaves the door open for a sequel. Bring it on!

A remake of the 1967 Classic with Dudley Moore and Peter Cook. Replaced with Brendan Fraser and Elizabeth Hurley respectively this version fails to be as clever or as sinister as the original, but it still entertains and Elizabeth Hurley is the sexiest devil you'll ever see.

Brendan Fraser (Elliot Richards) is a hapless geek, who dreams of only Alison Gardner (Frances O'Conner) and with the help of the Devil (Elizabeth Hurley) he has 7 wishes to try and get her, the trouble is the Devil has other plans.

Pretty funny with some nice ideas Bedazzled is good, but not as good as the original.

6/10

This movie is a delightfully, simple, fun one. It's a good modern Hollywood update of the 1967 British movie with the same title starring Dudley Moore and Peter Cook.

The movie is perfectly written by Harold Ramis who puts some good and fun typical Ramis dialog in the movie. The movie consists out of several separate sequences that are all totally different. Every wish brings us to another world and another Elliot Richards, the main character played by Brendan Fraser. The first wish, where he becomes a Columbian drug lord is the best sequence. Unfortunately after that the movie never becomes as good as that but it's still fun enough all to regard this a good and successful comedy.

Elizabeth Hurley is perfect as the devil, with the emphasis on perfect. She plays her role with lots of profession and class and looks better than ever. Brandon Fraser shows his comical skills and he plays a diversity of different character but he plays them all very well and is good and believable as every character.

The movie most certainly isn't the best or most memorable comedy but it simply is great fun to watch. It doesn't make "Bedazzled" a must see but it certainly is a perfectly watchable movie for perhaps on a rainy afternoon.

7/10

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The original 1967 "Bedazzled" is not a film that needs remaking--it's simply one of the most brilliant comedies ever committed to celluloid. The only thing that Ramis & Co. seem to have accomplished in this exercise is completely subverting everything that makes the original such a pleasure to watch.

Dudley Moore's bumbling yet endearing short-order cook is replaced by Brendan Fraser as a genuinely annoying computer geek--honestly, I don't know why we're supposed to like Fraser's character; I couldn't stand to be around him for a minute. Where the original "Bedazzled" ended on a beautifully dismal note, this edition opted to go with wishy-washy optimism. And perhaps worst of all, every bit of the biting British wit of the 1967 film has been replaced by a deep and abiding Californian sappiness.

Go see the Peter Cook/Dudley Moore original--don't waste your time with this mess.

Here's a fun film with a number of good laughs. It is stupid? Yeah, in parts. Is the theology sound? Hardly, but there was more truth than fiction uttered in this film, believe it or not. Is the Devil made to look attractive? Well, yeah, I'd say Elizabeth Hurley is pretty attractive!

The beginning is the best part of the film, and the end - with a dumb New Age message - is the worst. Along the way, the dumb Brendan Fraser's "Elliott Richards" learns some valuable lessons in his battle with the Devil. For selling his soul, so to speak, he gets seven wishes and we witness how he handles, or mishandles, these wishes. Much of it is pretty funny. Fraser is not a bad. He can play these goofy roles (i.e. "George Of The Jungle" and he can get serious and be effective, too, as in "The Quiet American.")

Overall, it's good lightweight entertainment. Don't expect much, and you'll be pleasantly surprised. At least, that's the way I found it.

see the original. for the love of god, see the original. this...this wasn't a film, it was some sort of cruel joke played on us by the gods of cinema.

this "film" is a perfect example of the decline of cinema in recent years. and don't think i'm an old coot who just thinks that everything was better back when and kids today and all that, i mean, i'm 20 years old.

what i mean is, look at the original. it's subtle, above all it's subtle. look at the new one. all subtlety is gone. brendan fraser wouldn't know subtlety if it chopped his head off.

i tried, i tried so hard to watch this "movie" with an open mind and not compare it too much to the original, just to judge it on its own merits. i couldn't. it insisted on taking scenes and dialogue directly from the original, but removing what made the older one funny, and giving it a whole new interpretation that took any kind of humor, timing, or, as i've said, subtlety, completely out of it all.

see the original. for the love of god, see the original.

Even though Elizabeth Hurley plays The Devil she is a goddess.

Brendan Fraser is certainly adequate to the job of playing Elliot Richards but Ms. Hurley steals the film.

She is perfectly cast as the `Princess of Darkness' and seems to truly enjoy exposing her darker side.

Brendan Fraser turns in a real acting tour d'force playing eight different characters. Possibly because of all the widely divergent characters he is playing he is not truly great in any of them – though he is hysterically funny – due primarily to the superb script by Larry Gelbart (of television's M*A*S*H fame), Harold Ramis (who also directed) and Peter Tolan from the original screen play by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore.

The Devil's demons (which appear in nearly every scene in one form or another) are great supporting roles played by Orlando Jones, Paul Adelstein and Toby Huss. They provide just the right touch of devilish humour, charm and wit. Another bit of casting genius and writing is Gabriel Casseus as Elliot's cellmate who expounds on the soul and is later seen playing chess with The Devil (who cheats, of course).

In fact all of the supporting characters were perfectly cast and brilliantly executed.

The script was so tight and well written that it was almost actor-proof. It was even able to carry a moral message without slamming the audience in the head with it.

To paraphrase an idea from the film ‘you get out of life [and this film] what you put into it.

This was an all-around good film with good direction, good jokes, good acting, excellent make-up (especially on Brendan Fraser by Ben Nye, Jr.) and a good yet unobtrusive score. I recommend it highly.

The British style of the original Bedazzled is, quite frankly, wacky, and that's an understatement. This version is more streamlined and glitzy in Hollywood language and it still works -- quite well, in fact. I enjoyed Elizabeth Hurley's Devil and thought that she'd make a great counterpart to Peter Cook. Perhaps she's Mrs. Satan and wants to work outside the home while Peter is off damning others to Hell? (BTW, I thought the Peter/Dudley dobies were a nice touch.)

Brendan Fraser does his usual dopey-guy routine and his alter ego stories have varying results from less funny (the athlete) to the screamingly hysterical (the overly sensitive dolphin and sunset obsessed guy). But overall, he's a really pleasing performer.

This movie is a nice and inoffensive way to spend 90 minutes. But for the dry British wit that is missing, definitely make sure you see the original!

I only watched this because I wanted to see how bad this remake could be. It was no better or worse than I expected. 2 out of 10.

Any movie relying on Liz Hurley to play a role convincingly has to be bad. It really is amazing that she's achieved any success at all with no talent whatsoever.

The few mildly amusing moments are stolen from the original. All the adaptations make it far inferior - smarmier, less satirical, and of course subtlety is thrown out the window.