Bedazzled (2000 film)

Because Raquel Welch is more appealing than Peter Cook.

Bedazzled is a 2000 remake of the 1967 film of the same name 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.

Tropes used in Bedazzled (2000 film) include:

• 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 he nullifies their contract and saves himself, she's still polite and cordial before seeing him off.
  • In fact, did he accidentally nullify the contract? Or did she learn to like the guy so much, after he used all but one of his wishes trying to be the perfect man for his crush and spent his last (damning his soul in the process) to make sure that she is happy, that she decided to throw out the contract and set him up with at least the potential for love?
• 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.
  • What ended up being considered his actual first wish was granted before he even signed the contract.
  • But the seventh wish makes up for everything literally, it turns out.
• 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: Preforming one selfless wish or act while under contract voids it.
• Deleted Scene: This one where he wishes to be a rock star a la Ozzy Osbourne.
• Devil but No God: Referenced early on.

Devil: Yes, there's a God.
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.

• Did Not Get the Girl: Even after everything he's gone through, Elliot finds out Allison was already dating. It turns out to be alright though as the experience taught Elliot about himself and gives him a confidence boost.
  • He did get a different girl though...Who looks exactly like Allison.
• 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

"Prince of Darkness. Well, princess."

• 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 for Allison to live a happy life.
• 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 Big Mac and large Coke.
• 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: After Elliot chats with Alison and learns she has a boyfriend, he goes home and runs into his new neighbor Nicole... played by the same actress. Lampshaded when he asks her, "Do you have a sister?"
• Selfless Wish: Elliot uses his seventh wish to wish for his beloved to be happy.
• Shaggy Dog Story: Elliot pining after Allison only in the end to find out she was already dating. But everything works out for him in the end.
• Shout-Out: The Devil's dogs during the second wish are named Dudley and Peter after the stars of the first movie.
• Invisible to Gaydar: Which was of course completely necessary for that scene to work.
• Sympathy for the Devil

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!"

• • 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

Satan: "How would you like to make one simple decision that'll change your life forever?"
Elliot: "Okay, I'm glad Scientology works for you, but..."

• • Also:

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

• • 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.