Bedazzled
(at around 1h 4 mins) The mathematics homework that the Devil removes from the classroom blackboard was effectively to prove Fermat's Last Theorem--a legendary problem from 1630 that was often the subject of stories about people selling their souls to solve it. The problem was eventually solved in 1995 by Andrew Wiles and colleagues (with computer, not Satanic, assistance).,(at around 1h 7 mins) When Elliot becomes Lincoln about to leave for his fateful visit to the Ford's Theater, his wife refers to "Our American Cousin" as an "entirely new play." In fact, "Our American Cousin" was first performed in 1858, seven years before Lincoln's assassination, and the performance which Lincoln saw was the play's thousandth.,Elliot's Cellmate: She's the devil, that one.
Elliot Richards: What?
Elliot's Cellmate: I said she's the devil... that lady cop.
Elliot Richards: Oh... yeah. I guess.
Elliot's Cellmate: So what are you in for brother?
Elliot Richards: Eternity.,Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Dr. T and the Women/Billy Elliot/The Ladies Man/Lost Souls/The Broken Hearts Club (2000),Just the One (I've Been Lookin' For)
Written by Steve Cropper, Eddie Floyd and Al Bell (as Alvertis Isbell)
Performed by Johnnie Taylor
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products,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.,