Bedazzled

Time to open up the gates of movie hell and boot Bedazzled to the unholy level of piss-poor screwball comedy. There's nothing like high-concept lowbrow Hollywood dreck to spoil literature like Faustian legend. Inexplicably remade from the 1967 comedy pairing Dudley Moore as a random schmuck with Peter Cook as the Devil, this unfortunate update gives those respective roles to Brendan Fraser and the mildly attractive Elizabeth Hurley. Okay, so she's really attractive, but there's nothing else pretty about this hellhole.

A reasonable plot synopsis begins and ends like this: "Goofball Elliot Richards has seven wishes to get a girl before an eternity in Hell." Apparently, Satan makes deals like this all the time-how else could Brendan Fraser be an A-list actor when, aside from Gods and Monsters, the best thing he's ever done is Encino Man? You know a movie is struggling when you find yourself recalling the Golden Age of Pauly Shore with fondness. With no supporting characters of any kind or even a personality behind the pretty face of love interest Frances O'Connor, Bedazzled is left to the "comic stylings" of Fraser, the "chemistry" between him and the Princess of Darkness and some penis and gay jokes, just for good measure.

There may be some yuks to be found in a female Lucifer delightfully exploiting Elliot's empty, masculine desires. But this script doesn't burden itself with the task of originality (Ha! Elliot's a drug lord. Ha! Elliot is a basketball player. Ha! Elliot is Abe Lincoln) that could uncover potential payloads in the darkly comic depths of male fantasy. Hurley meets expectations as an actress (which says next to nothing), coming close at points to bringing humor to the feminine Beelzebub through her sexual manipulation, mood swings and insecurity in her estranged relationship with God. But Satan is still best played as over-the-top hammy or ominously restrained, not Cover Girl catty.

It's surprising that Harold Ramis would direct what seems like a montage of beer commercials. In fact, watching 90 minutes of beer ads probably yields more laughs than this hellishly weak effort.

-By Greg Bloom