BEDAZZLED — CLASSIC FILM PICK
Director Stanley Donen mocks British tics such as racism, sexism, and imperialist tendencies in the context of a swinging ‘60s romantic comedy that plays off the urbane comic chemistry between the small-statured Dudley Moore and Peter Cook's lanky trouble-maker.
Here is a time capsule of '60s era self-loathing and misogyny captured in brilliant comic form.
Moore plays Stanley, a shy young man driven to attempt suicide as a remedy to his inability to approach, much less seduce, the waitress he works alongside at a Wimpy’s restaurant. Enter Peter Cook’s Beelzebub to offer Stanley seven of his wishes be granted in exchange for his soul. Naturally, the Devil manages to sour every best intention. Stanley escapes from each wished-for episode by blowing raspberries.
Raquel Welch makes a splash as Lust when she briefly visits Stanley's lonely bed in this smartly stylized romantic comedy with the weight of the world on its mind. Love, as it turns out, means everything.
Not Rated. 113 mins. (B+) (Four Stars — out of five / no halves)
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