Bedazzled

The original Bedazzled was a 1967 film vehicle for Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. Moore plays Stanley Moon, a short-order cook at Wimpy's who is hopelessly in love with waitress Margaret (Eleanor Bron) but too shy to tell her how he feels. Depressed over his lot in life, he attempts to hang himself. When his attempt fails, in steps Satan, who goes by the unlikely name of George Spiggott and is played by Peter Cook. George offers Stanley seven wishes in return for his soul, and in his desperation, Stanley sees no reason to refuse... after all, What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

A remake was released in 2000 starring Brendan Fraser and Elizabeth Hurley. In this version, Elliot Richards (Fraser) is a geeky and friendless office drone who is in love with beautiful co-worker Alison (Frances O'Connor), but is too shy to act on his feelings. After being ditched at a bar by his "friends", Elliot runs into a beautiful woman (Elizabeth Hurley) who tells him that she's the Devil and offers him seven wishes in return for his soul. While obviously hesitant, he accepts in the hopes of using his wishes to make him into the perfect man for Alison; Hilarity Ensues.

The 1967 film contains examples of:



 * Affably Evil: George puts Stanley up in his mansion and plys him with food, drink and Lillian Lust. His hospitality makes it all too easy for Stanley to forget how cruel and manipulative he really is.
 * Beauty Equals Goodness: Aversion.
 * Be Careful What You Wish For
 * Blowing a Raspberry
 * Camp Gay: Envy.
 * The Chessmaster: George knows what his victims will wish for and is able to identify the flaw in every one of Stanley's plans.
 * "You should have specified the sex."
 * Cool and Unusual Punishment: Everything George inflicts on Stanley.
 * Covers Always Lie: This cover makes it look like Rachel Welch as Lust is one of the core characters. Although Lust does have a pivotal role in the film, she's only on for about seven minutes.
 * The Devil Is a Loser: Possibly the most literal example ever.
 * Distracted By the Luxury: Subverted in the rich man wish, where Margaret is running around with another guy, and Stanley buys Margaret a mink coat. She enjoys how it feels, but then just takes it off to run around some more.
 * Evil Is Petty: "Your pranks are so miserable." George's petty schemes include posing as a door-to-door salesman and phoning people while they're in the bath.
 * Fat Girl: Gluttony.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: During Stanley's third wish, a pair of female breasts are shown in the bathroom mirror.
 * Jackass Genie: George Spiggott embodies this trope.
 * Manipulative Bastard: George's entire schtick is playing with Stanley's feelings for Margaret.
 * Naughty Nuns: "And I love you too, Sister Luna."
 * Seven Deadly Sins: All seven are introduced. Raquel Welch is Lillian Lust.
 * Stunt Casting: Raquel Welch, who gets star billing even though she's in a supporting role.
 * Villainous Breakdown: George is in a wager with God: he has been promised that if he claims a billion souls before God does, he will be allowed back into Heaven. He achieves this easily but God still finds a way to deny George entry to Heaven, and sends him back to square one.

The 2000 film contains examples of:


"Devil: Yes, there's a God.
 * 20% More Awesome: "Ah... well, you know, you go out there and you give a 110%, and you wanna play good, and, you know, you hope you play good... I think we played pretty good tonight!"
 * Acting for Two: Frances O'Connor.
 * Affably Evil: The Devil. Sure, she's out for Elliot's soul, but she's generally friendly and sympathetic to him most of the time. Even after, she's still polite and cordial before seeing him off.
 * In fact,
 * Anticlimax Cut: After Elliot wishes for a Big Mac and a coke. Cut to... the bus ride, and McDonald's counter.
 * Artistic License Music: Brendan Fraser is playing guitar during one of the fantasies, and he has his hand above the capo.
 * Be Careful What You Wish For: In some cases, the consequences are arbitrary. Consider:
 * First wish: to be rich and powerful. He becomes a Columbian drug lord.
 * Second wish: to be the most emotionally sensitive man in the world. He cries over everything.
 * Third wish: a superstar athlete and a woman magnet. He becomes an awesome basketball player with no brain and a very small penis.
 * Fourth wish: intelligent, charming and handsome and wanted Allison to fall in love with him. Making him gay was arbitrary.
 * Wished to be the President. He becomes Abe Lincoln on the day of his assassination.
 * But the seventh wish makes up for everything.
 * Brand X: For one of his wishes, Elliot ends up playing profession basketball for the "Diablos". The logo also appears as a sticker in his cubicle at work.
 * Camp Gay: Combine with a wish gone wrong, and you've got yourself a very funny moment.
 * Deal Escape Clause:
 * Deleted Scene: This one where he wishes to be a rock star a la Ozzy Osbourne.
 * Devil but No God: Referenced early on.
 * Devil but No God: Referenced early on.

Elliot: Really? What's he like?

Devil: [Beat] Y'know, you'd think meeting THE DEVIL would be enough for some people, but no, all they want to talk about is Him. Like He's so bloody fascinating.

Elliot: So He's a man.

Devil: Yeah. Most men think they're God. This one just happens to be right."

""Prince of Darkness. Well, princess.""
 * Did Not Get the Girl:
 * Divine Race Lift: God is black, the Devil is a woman.
 * Evil Is Petty: In between wishes, the Devil gives people parking fines, tells high school kids not to bother with their studies because they were boring, swaps medication for Tic Tacs, and cheats at chess with God.
 * Evil Lawyer Joke: Apparently, the Devil has clients.
 * Fermats Last Theorem: Erased by Satan at the all-boys' boarding school.
 * Flat Earth Atheist: Odd example during the fourth wish. Secular humanism may be "yummy", but Eliot of all people should know that at least in the film's reality, humanity isn't alone.
 * Gender Flip: The Devil is recast as Elizabeth Hurley.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: As a drug lord, Elliot yells "hijos de puta!", which is translated as "you guys suck!". It really means "you sons of bitches!"
 * God Karting With Beelzebub: The last we see of God and the Devil is the two of them playing chess in the park.
 * Greek Chorus: Elliot's "friends" reappear as different characters in each wish.
 * Hot As Hell
 * Hot As Hell

"The Devil: "Do you think I enjoy this? I'm stuck in this horrible job for eternity. Everybody hates me. When I try to help someone they turn on me like I'm supposed to be God or something! For your information, my life is a living hell!""
 * Hot Teacher: What the Devil pretends to be when Elliot wishes to be President of the United States.
 * I Just Want to Have Friends: At the start of the movie, Elliot's ham-fisted efforts to befriend his co-workers are painful to watch.
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Elliot's last wish
 * Jackass Genie: The Devil fits the trope perfectly, except that she's obviously not a Genie.
 * Large Ham: Fraser got a chance to show off how hammish he can be, particularly during the second wish.
 * Magical Negro: God, apparently.
 * Ms. Fanservice: The producers got their money's worth from Hurley.
 * Mundane Wish:
 * The Remake: More of a Reimagining really, taking the basic idea of a loser guy in love with an oblivious beauty being offered wishes by Satan, and then going its own way with it.
 * Replacement Love Interest:
 * Selfless Wish: Elliot uses his seventh wish to wish for his beloved to be happy.
 * Shaggy Dog Story:
 * Shout-Out: The Devil's dogs during the second wish are named Dudley and Peter after the stars of the first movie.
 * Straight Gay: Which was of course completely necessary for that scene to work.
 * Sympathy for The Devil

"Satan: "How would you like to make one simple decision that'll change your life forever?"
 * And, much like you'd expect of the Devil, Hurley does a good job of straddling the line between sincerity and manipulation when she does it.
 * Take That

Elliot: "Okay, I'm glad Scientology works for you, but...""

""It's not easy being the Barbra Streisand of Evil.""
 * Also:


 * The Devil mentions that she has offices in "Purgatory, Hell, and Los Angeles".
 * Teeny Weenie: Elliot is transformed into a huge sexy basketball player... who has laughably small equipment.
 * Vanity License Plate: The Devil's car has "BAD 1" on its license plate.