ईस्टविक के चुड़ैलों

Three lonely New England women (Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer) dream of a man to satisfy their every need as they suffer from isolation with their husbands constantly away. That man---Jack Nicholson (always on a lucky streak it seems). Wicked little comedy with Jack going over the top and having great fun with the helter-skelter material. The women (Cher and Sarandon in particular) match his intensity and the star power makes up for the crazed screenplay and unsteady direction by George Miller. Overall I liked "The Witches of Eastwick". I am not quite sure why I did, but once again Nicholson proves that if there is just enough substance available that he can raise mediocre film-making techniques and share the spotlight with his fellow co-stars. 4 stars out of 5.

In the traditional and conservative Eastwick, the sculptress Alexandra Medford (Cher), the shy musician and teacher Jane Spofford (Susan Sarandon) and the journalist Sukie Ridgemont (Michelle Pfeiffer) are best friends. Alexandra is a widow; Jane is divorced since she can not have a child; and Sukie is divorced because she frequently gets pregnant and has five children. They are sexually repressed and one night, they describe the characteristics of their ideal man while drinking. There is a storm on the town and the mysterious Daryl Van Horne (Jack Nicholson) appears in town and buy a notorious mansion. NJobody can recall his name, but he seduces the three friends. Meanwhile the pious Felicia Alden (Veronica Cartwright), who is married with Sukie's boss Clyde Alden (Richard Jenkins), has a weird accident and feels that Daryl is the devil. When Felicia dies, Alexandra, Jane and Sukie realize that there is something strange about Daryl. But what can they do?

"The Witches of Eastwick" is a sexy and original film with a strange combination of horror and comedy. Jack Nicholson is comfortable performing another totally incorrect character. The sinful witches are represented by three gorgeous actresses. The special effects are great and responsible for funny scenes. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "As Bruxas de Eastwick" ("The Witches of Eastwick")

George Miller (Mad Max) creatively sets the stage for a story of three witches and one Lucifer, who are in regular human form, in a small, uptight New England town. Of course, for a tale like this one can try to suspend disbelief, and it has to be when dealing with the supernatural. Thankfully, Miller has great casting tastes- Cher, Sarandon, and Pfieffer are wonderful in their roles, each with an acute, potent sexuality that was at their peaks in the late 80's. And then there's Mr shark grin himself, Jack Nicholson, who gives another superb layer to the performance of the dark prince. There are other actors who have portrayed the man downstairs- Al Pacino in Devil's Advocate was the devil as lawyer, Billy Crystal was himself in the Woody/Dante sequence in Deconstructing Harry, even Elizabeth Hurley in Bedazzled.

But rarely have they had this much outright fun and charm with the role, enough to almost make me, a man in his 20s, charmed too. Maybe it's the eyebrows. Nicholson gives one of his best over-the-top performances as the "horny-little devil" Darryl, who comes into town during a storm and cooks up more than that for his avid female guests. Of course, he doesn't have control for long, when the girls find they have powers of their own. When the movie gets overly fantastic (which is a number of times) it gets a little hard to take, yet the acting is above par, and the special effects are a delight.

John Updike probably panicked when he saw what screenwriter Michael Cristofer and director George Miller did to his book.....but this movie is all the BETTER for what they did! Careening wildly between scenes of light fantasy, full-bore horror and extreme gross-outs, this film is wildly imaginative and terrifically entertaining. With Jack Nicholson as the devil himself, things just don't get any better than that! Actually, the whole cast is very well-chosen and all give great performances.

A great cult film...can't wait to see and hear those barfing scenes on DVD! Four stars!!!! ****

From the director who brought us Mad Max comes a modern-day fairy tale of sorts that examines the age-old battle of the sexes. Alex (Cher), Jane (Susan Sarandon) and Sukie (Michelle Pfeiffer) are three single women who live in the sleepy New England town of Eastwick. Since all of them lack a man in their lives, and are dissatisfied with the ones who are in town, they wish for a handsome stranger to visit. Miraculously, their wish is granted when Daryl Van Horne (Jack Nicholson) strolls into town and succeeds in turning their lives (and the town's) upside down. For the most part, I thought that the story was very effective in setting up its characters and giving them depth, even Daryl. The three women who are the titular "Witches of Eastwick" were all distinct personalities and had situations that made you care about them. Generally speaking, the performances were all very good, although Jack Nicholson towers above the rest of the cast as he brings his brand of insanity to what is essentially the devil in human form. Even the whole "witch" thing was dealt with rather subtly, as the women only become witches by finding the power within themselves. It is this struggle between male and female power which forms the core conflict of the film, and it is a compelling one even though it has been many times over in various forms. The townspeople are also given some development, although probably not enough to warrant the attention provided them. There are references made to the Salem witch trials, and the wife of the town's newspaper editor (Richard Jenkins...with hair!) acts as the mouthpiece for morality when the the three "witches" start their relationship with Daryl. Despite this interesting aside, I think it detracts a little bit from the main conflict. Moving on, I also thought that John Williams' score was fantastic and had this magical/mysterious quality that really meshed with the story and visuals. It's not his best score, but it was still a very good one. There were also a number of special effects by ILM which I thought were also well-done, especially considering this was made in 1987. Overall, I thought this was a very entertaining and funny movie that presented a well-worn theme in a fresh way. The only detraction, I think, is that there's a bit of a mean streak in regards to the portrayal of the male characters which might turn that half of the audience off. Still, this is a quality film that shows off director George Miller's versatility and the acting talents of its cast.