No — I never saw this before. What, am I a fucking god to you? Can’t you accept that there are a few classics I haven’t seen? Anyone who reads these pages knows I’ve seen a lot of movies. . .think about your own life. Have YOU seen every classic? Anyway, with that off my chest — this movie is flawless. The sketch-like premise is perfect for Peter Cook (the funniest non-Python Brit ever?) and Dudley Moore to spread on the schtick. (They never do Derek and Clive, though . . .I was kinda waiting for that.) But there is also enough of a story there for you to actually care about the characters. And — and this is the British thing — there are actually a few twists in this story to make it actually something meaningful. It’s closest contemporary would be something like “Groundhog Day.” And to answer your next question — no, I never saw the remake.
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Welcome
Jordan Hoffman is a New York-based writer and film critic working for The Guardian, Vanity Fair, Thrillist, Times of Israel, NY Daily News and elsewhere.
He is the host of ENGAGE: The Official Star Trek Podcast, a member of the New York Film Critics Circle and challenges you to a game of backgammon.
Fox Movie Channel has been showing this to death over the past year, yet, much like Panic in Needle Park, it’s unavailable on DVD. In the case of Bedazzled, that makes no sense — a brilliant comedy. What I took away was the sage lesson that even if all your wishes are granted, you’ll still have problems. A great comedy in a sense that it’s filled with all sorts of profound truths masked in a very droll, casual British style of humor — most comedies don’t get anywhere near as deep as Bedazzled, which is a shame?
Groundhog Day? Not even on the same block!