Originally written 12/10/15
Witches of Eastwick
reminds me of Death Becomes Her. Both
are female-driven supernatural dark comedies with a very similar zany tone.
However, Witches of Eastwick is not
nearly as funny as Death Becomes Her.
The three lead actresses do great with the material they are given, and are the
only thing that keeps the movie from being completely unwatchable. Jack
Nicholson completely kills the film for me. His character and performance are
utterly repulsive, and not even in a "love to hate him" kind of way.
He's supposed to be alluring and charismatic, but he is not at all in the
least. Even if he was meant to be perceived as more of a comedic scoundrel type
character, it does not work because he is so utterly repugnant. The movie also
indulges in wholly unnecessary gross-out humor that doesn't fit well with the
rest of the film. I don't think anyone finds projectile vomiting amusing, but
clearly the filmmakers did.
Visually
the film is extremely cinematic, with flashy angles and illustrious wide shots.
For a story that's relatively low-key in scope, the visuals are unfittingly
epic at times. Director George Miller (who also helmed the Mad Max films) really loves sweeping, grand visuals in his movies,
but they are very unfitting with the tone of the movie.
It's
a shame this movie was so bad. Female-driven films are an unfortunate rarity,
and the lead actresses were all great. I normally like Jack Nicholson too, but
this is easily one of his worst performances. The story is all over the place,
too. It feels like there was a lot of material lost in the adaptation process
from novel to film. The ending is atrociously sloppy and hokey, too. I really
wanted to like this movie, but unfortunately a good cast cannot save an
unfocused story and unfunny material.
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