Bedazzled
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Movie Reviews of Bedazzled
Movie Review: A Masterpiece Of British Comedy
Summary: 5 Stars
The direct ancestor to the Monty Python Flying Circus films and tv series, as well as numerous Brit coms, Bedazzled is a witty comedy starring Dudley Moore as a short-order cook, deeply in love with co-worker Margaret, Peter Cook as the Devil, Raquel Welch as Lust. Completely immersed in allegory and commentary on Christian morality, especially in its conflict with biological needs, as well as a comedic, albeit blasphemous story on how the Devil wants to return to Heaven and his former glory of an angel. Peter Cook offers Dudley Moore seven wishes in return for his soul. Dudley Moore's wishes seem to be coming true at first- he manages to impress the woman he loves with a powerful intellect and wealth, but he later discovers she is unfaithful to him. To make him forget his true love, the Devil sends Lust to tempt him, a cameo role by 60's sex symbol, Raquel Welsh.The seven wishes are each granted, but each poses a problem of its own. Along the way, the Devil offers his story of exile from Heaven and we are forced to sympathize with his overwhelming humanity. For Dudley Moore, life becomes intolerable without his true love, and in his last wish he becomes a female nun, which ironically, was the only way he could be near Margaret. The witty dialogue, especially the scenes between the Devil and Stanley, are exceptional. Also worthy of notice is the scene in which Stanley becomes a rock star but is forgotten by fickle fans, who are easily swayed by cold, limpid, indifferent vocals from the Devil. This is a movie that is worth buying, especially for its well-written screenplay, its outstanding performances by the lead actors and its truthful, no-nonsense commentary on life. This film is a prime example of British comedy, and can be enjoyed by a vast audience who can appreciate such comedy. It is a bit raunchy and immoral at times- there is a scene in which the Seven Deadly Sins are together at a strip club, and the blasphemous insinuation that God and the Devil are equal in the cosmic plan, as well as the sympathetic treatment of the Devil as a misunderstood angel. For Christians, this comedy would turn heads. But for the less discriminating, it is sparkling, masterful, and a highlight of British comedy, right along the Monty Python films.
Movie Review: 5 is insufficient
Summary: 5 Stars
I will dispense with the funny first. This is the funniest movie ever. Period. No doubt. There is more clever wordplay, more sly jokes, more inventive and wonderful characters than in any other movie. That is a huge plus. I love it. But it is not the reason to watch it. Cook and Moore were often brilliant together, but this is something else. Frog and Peach is dastardly clever. This is much, much more.
Bedazzled is the most wonderful theological movie ever made. How two hedonistic jerks could cook up such a masterpiece I cannot say. But they did. The big questions of faith, free will, good and evil are all addressed beautifully. And intelligently. Good is painted with a simple brush. Evil is the evil we know, not the gross caricature but the sordid and grubby piece in every one's heart, even Mrs. Wisby's. I could write at length on this, but folks think the movie is anti-God or irreverent. Organized religion doesn't look too good, but Bedazzled is as pro-God as any Left Behind film. And still wildly funny and bitingly charming.
The image is great, and the wide-screen is a treat after the boxy VHS image I've endured for years. As to the DVD extras. Well, two short pieces with Dud and Pete, hardly worth the bother, and a rambling boring monologue by Harold Ramis. For a Bedazzled fan, as I have been for nearly 40 years, this is akin to having Steve Bartman on a Cubs DVD. I think Ramis a smart man, and Groundhog Day is on my top 5 all time, but his disastrous remake of this movie took out all the spark, wit and intelligence. A shame, as it would be fun to hear something from the actors who were in on this. All of whom, except the dreadful though lovely Raquel, are wonderful.
Movie Review: terrific classic doesn't need to be re-made!
Summary: 5 Stars
I first saw this film my first semester in college... in English 101 of all places! After reading the Goethe's "Faust," we were treated to this drop-dead, split your sides open comedy.Dudley Moore is perfect as the bumbling, broken-hearted bafoon, Stanley Moon. Peter Cook is the evil, but somehow still loveable George Spiggot aka the Devil. Raquel Welch plays a small cameo role as "Lust," one of the seven deadly sins personified.
Moon (Moore) is lovelorn and secretly pining away for the waitress he works with at the local "Wimpy Burger" in London. When Moore realizes that the girl he desires will never notice him, he attempts to take his life and is rescued by none other than the Prince of Darkness.
Moore agrees to sign over his soul to Spiggot in return for 7 wishes. The poor sap just isn't street smart enough and constantly wishes for something he either didn't intend to wish for or worse, a wish he hadn't really thought out properly and thoroughly... exacerbating the meaning of the phrase, "be careful what you wish for... you might just get it!"
Cook does an exemplary job as the wolf in sheeps clothing. Spiggot gains Moon's confidence by being kind to him... despite his alterior motives, it is probably the first time anyone has been kind to Moon in his whole life and the Devil exploits this to the fullest measure. Lack of street-smarts gets moon in one hilarious pickle after another.
I can't say much more without ruining the plot and the hilarity, but suffice to say, you'll never hear "Julie Andrews" the same way again. I highly recommend this as a clever comedy... and one that's safe to show to teens.
Movie Review: You fill me with inertia
Summary: 5 Stars
During a decade filled with some of the most gaspingly funniest movies ever made, Bedazzled has to be the wittiest and most droll. Cook and Moore had appeared in a couple of good ones (The Wrong Box, the still yet to be released on DVD Bedsitting Room) but this is their unquestionable tour de force, and the closest in spirit to their British TV series that was a favorite with Swinging London. (The last memorable time we get to see them together was hosting a first season Saturday Night Live.)
The Faustian legend provides ample room for some outrageous sketches and the kind of philosophical dialogue that would later grace the best of Monty Python. However, what really pulls the whole project together is the remarkable rapport between the two longtime collaborators. The relationship between poor little Stanley Moon and Lucifer is not only believable, but rather sweet, despite all the abuse the latter is "compelled" to rain on the former.
My favorite bit is when Moore's Tom Jones is overmatched on stage by Cook's unbelievably distant Ziggy Stardust. (And mind you, this is 1967, a few years before before Bowie got Ziggy off the ground.)
It should be noted the Stanley Donan not only directed this and the very compelling contemporary Two for the Road, but was, of course, a collaborator with Gene Kelly on such essentials as Singing in the Rain. Nice range, eh?
Movie Review: A great and classic take on the tragi-comedy of being human
Summary: 5 Stars
"Bedazzled" of 1967 by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore is a multi-layered delight as well as a deeply insightful variation on one of the most famous legends in Western Civilization: the man who sells his soul to the devil for (choose any or all of the following) sex, pleasure, riches, power, or to know all things as God knows them. Cook and Moore, by both word and action, refer back to Marlowe's tragedy of "Dr. Faustus," to Goethe's epic drama "Faust," and even to Hannah Arendt's theory of the "banality" of evil with reference to the Holocaust, and they do it with the wacky finesse one associates with Monty Python. Philosophy, theology, the slapstick of vaudeville, the Irish-accented intellectualism of James Joyce, upper-class Oxbridge-snobbery, the trench-coated detective of the English mystery novel, your grandmother being bilked by traveling salesmen, puns high and low, and loud, wet "thhhpts" of rasberries thhhpt'd in hopeful despair - the 1967 film lacks nothing of humor and insight into the foolishness of us humans. This film bedazzles the world-weary viewer back into having faith in the future of humanity. And you can even have fries with that. I mean "chips." Or maybe "crisps." And extra onions for that man over there in the corner in the black tuxedo and the scarlet lined opera cape who is wearing red socks.