Bedazzled: Seven wishes for a soul

Anyone would love it if they were granted the opportunity to make all their dreams come true just by wishing them into reality. The catch is what has to be sacrificed in order to receive those wishes or to make them come true. One of the concepts of alchemy states that nothing can be created out of thin air but anything important can be converted into something else that may or may not be more useful. You have to lose something of equal or greater importance to be able to gain something else that you wish for. All that taken into consideration, would you accept losing something very dear to you to make your dreams come true?

Elliot Richards works at a dead-end job in an IT company where he answers calls and helps customers as part of the tech support team. He is enthusiastic about making friends but doesn’t manage to fit in with anyone and is ignored by his co-workers every time he attempts to meet them socially. He is also a secret admirer of Alison Gardner, a pretty co-worker who is too far out of his league but who he has been in love with for over four years. Despite their efforts to leave him out of their plan, Elliot manages to meet his co-workers at a pub they frequent and is dared to strike up a conversation with Alison. Petrified by the request, Elliot musters up some courage but is shot down within seconds. Standing alone and ruing his luck, Elliot confesses to himself that he would give anything to have Alison in his life. Fortuitously Elliot meets a hot young woman who tells him she has the power to give him anything he can imagine. She proposes a deal where Elliot will receive seven wishes in exchange for his soul as she confesses to being the Devil. Elliot agrees reluctantly but soon curses his choice.

Bedazzled was released in the year 2000 and was directed by Harold Ramis. It is the remake of a 1967 film of the same name which was in turn adapted from an old folklore. The film is a simple comedy with play on situation and dialogue bringing up a few laughs every now and then. The plot isn’t particularly extensive and comes across as a set of vignettes put together clumsily to make a feature film. The casting is good but the direction seems a little lacking. The characters aren’t particularly believable with the protagonist starting off with a lack of confidence and ending the film with immense self belief which stems from nowhere during the story. The protagonist is put through situations that are humorous. The anti-hero Devil is amusing with a light-hearted approach to good versus evil and a naturally fun loving nature.

The film has a part melancholy ending which is reached over the course of an entertaining story. It falls short in many areas and isn’t particularly good for a film that is intended to have comedy as one of its strong features. All the same, it is a fun movie to watch when no inhibitions are attached.