Wolff rating: FAIR
Plot summary: Loser is given seven wishes from the Devil herself.
Biased, pithy comments: What makes a comedy collapse? Is it the lack of decent pacing for the gags? That's not the problem here, although sometimes one can see the punchline well before anyone else does. Is it a lack of appealing characters? No, I liked the Devil and began to like Fraser as he kept going. No, I think there are two major problems that make this movie a little tough to watch. First, the simple malarkey of the premise is beyond cliched---it's as old as the Bible, and Fraser in his nerd persona seems to hurl himself through the paces because, if he didn't, there wouldn't be a movie, and that wouldn't be any fun. Thus, the idiot-plot device hurts, and it undercuts a lot of the rest of the film, meaning we can't help but know that Fraser isn't the boob he's made out to be. The other one is tricky. It's casting Hurley as the Devil. She's fantastic to look at, has a great costume, and has good screen presence. (And why not? She's a supermodel!) However, Peter Cook's script saddles her with all the contrived exposition and, frankly, she can't handle the strain. No, it doesn't work, but it's not without giggles as you go through.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Elizabeth Hurley, Frances O'Connor, Miriam Shor, Orlando Jones, Paul Adelsein.
Directed by: Harold Ramis