Recensioni degli utenti

One of the reviews says there were three versions of the film. I'd like to see Baldwin's original cut of this movie. The last version was cut badly, there are many unnatural breaks in the film. like it was edited for commercial breaks. The breaks where scenes were cut seem apparent.

Apparently the 1941 movie suffered a similar fate, with many titles and severe editing.

The story runs counter to the traditional American ethic of money equaling happiness.

The film was purchased out of bankruptcy for a fraction of production costs, and renamed and hacked for a fast return on investment.

As a teacher of fifty years experience in language and cinematic arts,I taught "The Devil and Dan'l Webster" as part of the fictional pantheon of American Literature. Although Alec Baldwin certainly has burned some bridges along the way in his career, this film takes creative risks, many of them worthy of consideration, which exemplify a significant part of Americana. Like its forbear, the 1941 cinematic adaptation starring Walter Huston, this version was attacked, condemned and dismissed when it was released. I believe that every adaptation of any book is an aesthetic fossil caught in cinematic amber.

The movie substantiates the same sort of meretricious value system in its depiction of Jabez Stone that struck Stephen Vincent Benet and the makers of the 1941 gem. In its lampooning of pretentious high society panderers of cheesy albeit popular writing, casting them as best-sellers, "Shortcut to Happiness"dramatizes a contemporary examination of what actually constitutes success in the dizzying world of publications.

Anthony Hopkins was well cast in the role of Daniel Webster. It is instructive to compare and contrast Edward Arnold's portrayal of Webster in the 1941 classic with that of Hopkins, because both actors have earned a lifetime of accolades, portraying both admirable and despicable characters. Hopkins and Arnold remain symbols of financial and thespian success.

Hollywood has a bad record for disapproving of movies solely on the basis of profit. I would love to see "Shortcut to Happiness" go into post-production, be subjected to a diverse array of test audiences after a skillful rewrite. The issues that concerned Stephen Vincent Benet in 1937 are alive and with us all today in almost every area of business, politics, entertainment, and government. Success is whatever you can get away with.

Audiences will go to see bad movies. But Hollywood only seems to take the loving and meticulously-artistic care to produce two or three cinematic gems each year. Whoever had the final say in terms of condemning this movie wasted time, money, and the potential for achieving what its creators had in mind when the idea was but an inspiration culled from reading the classic and wishing to update it.

If one of my students had submitted this movie script to me, I would have said, "Promising rough draft," and suggest various ways to improve it with my reasons for doing so.

This is yet another Faustian tale put to celluloid, though unlike both versions of Bedazzled, it's not exactly a comedy, more a dramedy, only funny in parts. Both Baldwin and Hopkins are fine in their roles, but unfortunately Jennifer Love Hewitt is completely out of her depth, especially when sharing the screen with Hopkins.it's a okay plot that will keep you entertained, though nothing more.

Tasteless rewrite of "The Devil and Daniel Webster" has a struggling novelist named Jabez Stone unable to get anything published much less find anyone to read his work; he enters into a pact with a comely female Satan for fame and fortune in exchange for his immortal soul. Update of Archibald Macleish's play "Scratch" and 1941's far-superior "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (wherein a panicked farmer was the tempted man) was produced and directed by its star, Alec Baldwin. There's a fine supporting cast including Anthony Hopkins as lawyer Daniel Webster and Jennifer Love Hewitt as the Devil but, unfortunately, the picture was edited against Baldwin's wishes after sitting on the shelf for years (it finally debuted on the Starz network in 2007 after a few theatrical bookings). The film begins well but quickly loses its footing once Baldwin's writer gains the success he so desired, turning the picture into a yuppie treatise on the old money-can't-buy-happiness ploy. The filmmakers are so out-of-touch, they don't even consider the fact that maybe some of the writer's needs are in fact fulfilled by his newfound celebrity. Instead, he becomes a sad sack with money in the bank and women at his feet--clearly not something actual struggling writers can identify with. Worse, there's never a moment when Stone's heart is detectable; Baldwin is so callow an actor (not to mention as the director) that all we perceive are his handsome, unmodulated externals. Pursing his lips and gazing intently at the camera, hoping to smolder, Baldwin loses track of the character and where he came from. The final courtroom battle is well-played, though so much of the writing is smarmy and executed without style that the overall results are distinctly unsatisfactory. *1/2 from ****

This movie was fun but Jennifer Love Hewitt was so utterly miscast. She's fine for some light TV but she's not a powerful enough actress to play in an ensemble of this caliber. Everyone in it, Kim Catrall, Hopkins, Rubin, Akroyd, and even Baldwin himself are quite wonderful but Ms. Hewitt throws the balance. She's the thing that spoils the movie; especially her delivery of the last "closing argument" monologue belongs in some kind of first year acting class. The movie is a bit moralistic and sentimental and in my opinion it does not live up to the actual story of The Devil and Daniel Webster which is, in many ways more subtle than how Baldwin had handled it. He's gone for a more commercial treatment of a concept whose sophistication could have been just as entertaining. All in all, it's a fun little piece thought some of the sets, the editing as well as the casting of Hewitt should have been rethought. Baldwin is a decent enough director; keeps the film moving and definitely gives the characters good arcs.

This movie was an utter piece of trash. it only scraped the surface of such a classical topic and one that many people have pondered upon for all eternity. and while at it, not only did it not offer no new points, but i felt it took all seriousness and gravity off it. the characters: underdevelped, the action: sloppy and head-titled. the use of slow motion: childish. an awful movie. the end.

It might seem funny that the remake to The Devil and Daniel Webster was given a new title, but it's quite fitting: the 1941 original had a different title up until 1952 as well (All That Money Can Buy). So, Shortcut to Happiness is another version of the age old phrase, "I'd sell my soul to the Devil for. . ." When the Devil shows up with a contract offering a "shortcut to happiness", many folks will just ask for a pen.

This remake is pretty different, though. It's very light, whereas Walter Huston scared the pants off of the audience in 1941 with his non-blinking stare and impish grin. Jennifer Love Hewitt plays the Devil, and she's irresistible in her own way. Instead of using magic and fear, she's just gorgeous and inspires confidence. Alec Baldwin is a struggling writer who sells his soul for a successful career as a novelist - also different than the farmer (with the same name, though) without enough money to put food on the table. After Alec gets everything he wants, he doesn't like Jennifer's collection, so he enlists Anthony Hopkins, a book publisher named Daniel Webster, to fight the Devil on his behalf.

It's an entertaining story, and if you like the cast and would rather just be entertained than frightened, check the remake out first. The black-and-white version is pretty creepy, so it's not really a movie I like to watch all the time.

Again, here we have a movie that tries to be a commercial success by trying to serve everyone by trying to be many or most things. It cannot be classed because it is more than one kind of movie: black comedy, moral tale, emotion-driven drama, fantasy, post noir, court drama… And it fails miserably on all accounts.

The cast is perfectly cast: Kim Cattrall as the vain impresario, Anthony Hopkins as the wise old guy, Jennifer Love Hewitt as the femme fatale, Dan Aykroyd as the imposing yobo and Alec Baldwin as the struggling man of a certain age. Hence, a perfectly TYPE-CASTED cast.

What more to say about 'A Shortcut to Happiness'? Not much. It is boring, self-indulgent and over-ambitious. If you like those kind of movies, do not hesitate and watch it immediately.

I also saw this movie at the Naples Film Festival. I disagree with the other comments that Cattrell and Baldwin were good or great. They were the worst of the cast. I couldn't figure out if Catrell was really such a bad actress or if she was acting as a bad actress. I can't stand Baldwin on general principle.

Hopkins, and surprisingly Hewitt, were great! The bedroom scene wasn't that bad and is cute when it reveals something about Hewitt.

The story has been told dozens of times before under different names. This isn't the best version but it's worth seeing, especially since Baldwin has removed his name and association with it.

Edwina

I went for this movie believing it had good ratings. Firstly, it is ridiculous that they're releasing a movie originally made in 2001, seven years later in 2008 here in India. Everything in the movie looks dated. Even for 2001 the movie looks like its been made on a shoe string budget. There is a scene where a taxi hits a man to elaborate how low budget you can get. Anthony Hopkins doesn't seem to know what he is doing in the film. He ends up giving a long monologue towards the end. If the film had bright sparks during that scene, I missed it as I was sleeping on my seat. Nothing about Jennifer Love Hewitt resembles a Devil. She wears ill-fitting trite clothes and scowls at random kids. As for Alec Baldwin a scene where he goes to meet Webster for the first time is not to be missed. What a waste of money! As Anthony Hopkins rightly put it, "Go back home and write better!"

I saw this film at the Venice Film Festival and have waited a long time to comment on it as I wanted to see it again when I was released. However, it still has not come out and I don't know if it ever will.

Alec Baldwin is a writer, down on his luck and nowhere to go but down even further.

As with many viewers I suspect, I was attracted to this film by the cast and the fact that it has received so much press, good and bad. The plot is based on the old casino idea of a writer whose career in next to nil and is getting ready to self destruct – and unless you get into it, it'll feel rather forced and silly at times.

However the film helped me to overcome this by being very low key and downbeat – very much like Baldwin himself. The film is not a great thing but one that is easy to get into. The film uses Las Vegas really well but it is a classic story that is fun to believe in. It is much better than the fun, breezy and slick fantasies that we are sold in other films. The mix of romance, comedy and violence works very well – at points it was very touching, at others quite funny.

It isn't perfect of course and the writing is where the problems lie; the story did rely on the audience buying into it and at times the dialogue comes very close to corn (but just misses). The only time I felt really let down was the ending, which, although fitting with the spirit of the film, missed a great chance to be fun, exciting and original all at the same time.

Still, a good film and definitely worth the watching.

The story behind this film is much more interesting than the movie itself. It seems that production of the film stopped before the final product could be released. According to Wikipedia, the project ran out of money AND some of the investors were being investigated for bank fraud! I have no idea of the outcome of the legal matters, but the movie sat on the shelf for several years. Ultimately, it was sold through an auction and the buyers edited the film themselves...without the film's director, Alec Baldwin. As a result, Baldwin demanded his name be taken off as director...which seems more than understandable. Then, when the film was ultimately released, it lost money.

The story is a modern interpretation of the old story "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (1941). However, it also goes by the title "Shortcut to Happiness".

The story is about Jabez (Baldwin), a frustrated writer sho has had no success with his work. He's about to give up when he receives a visit from the Devil (Jennifer Love Hewitt). She offers to make him famous if he sells her his soul...which he does. However, despite huge immediate success, the deal doesn't make him happy in any way. In fact, in some ways it makes his life worse. So, in desperation, he gets the book agent, Daniel Webster (Anthony Hopkins) to represent him in a court made up of famous dead authors to argue that the deal is null and void.

The story ISN'T bad. Considering how it was made, it's actually very surprising it's even watchable. But there are a few problems. First, the 1941 film is much better. Second, while I am sure Hewitt is a lovely person, she seemed all wrong for her role. Third, the film is just flat...watchable but flat.

Years ago I first learned of this movie, as well as its troubled production and reportedly bad quality. Of course, that made me want to see it, but I couldn't find it anywhere until I came across it by accident on Amazon Prime Video. Well, does the movie show tell-tale signs of behind the scenes troubles, and is it a really bad movie? Yes and yes. There are many things wrong with this movie, such as the flat or downright awful performances by the cast, the fact that it's obvious that linking footage or entire scenes are missing, the pacing is extremely slow, and the fact that telling this classic story in a modern setting brings no new perspective or angles. However, what really bothered me most about the movie was that the movie never finds a clear tone and sticks with it. As it is, the movie is too goofy to be taken seriously, but somehow also too serious to make the comic touches amusing. The results are that I was not quite sure how to take this story.... apart from it being done in a really bad manner. While I'll admit some of the blame for the movie's failure doesn't fall on director/actor Alec Baldwin's shoulders - he claimed that the movie was taken out of his hands and butchered by others - there are no real signs that his intended version would have been that much better. In short, the movie is a really strange change of genre for prolific schlockmeister producers Randall Emmett and George Furla. But not strange enough to really catch the interest of the select few who sometimes get a kick out of big budget cinematic misfires.

It's very interesting how some old ideas always come back "in new clothing" to movies or literature. This movie is a good example. It's about the "old but nice" cliché of Faust, the man how sells his immortal soul to the devil in exchange of achieving happiness.

I like Jennifer Love Hewitt playing devil in this movie. I don't think she's gorgeous or a tremendous actress, but she's cute and did a good job in this movie.

This movie mixes references to classic US writers, the "not a penny in the pocket" world of the amateur writers struggling to be noted by a publisher and the the US mania for justice court battles.

It's a light movie for relaxing with friends or the girlfriend/boyfriend.

This is not a real review, it should be taken more as a collection of impressions on the film.

Very sweet and cute film that aims to be a profound reflection on life, friends and success but which results in a film that is a little more deflated than it wanted to be and therefore becomes slightly mediocre. The main problem with this film is that it lasts a bit too long and this is very boring because it reiterates the same concept with practically the same scenes for almost its entire duration, only the ending is really beautiful and it can be said that it is the only thing that is not boring. Although ultimately it can be said that the entire final scene also lasts far too long. So the film is ultimately mediocre but watchable.

The Devil and Daniel Webster was my first high school reading assignment. The book always held a special place. A film clip appeared on YouTube with Alec Baldwin. I would not describe myself as a fan. The clip perked my interest. The lead actress was Jennifer Love Hewett. I would not describe myself as fan. I do respect the talent of these actors. Then Anthony Hopkins appearance, you understand what acting is as a comparison. You add Dan Ackroyd, a young Bobby Cannavale and Kim Cattrail; you realize this cast is amazing. The movie suffer from what can be describe as made for the Hallmark Channel. You are left wondering? Just a little bit grittier. The shortcomings and all a decent movie. A decent family movie.

This is one of those films that I remember being in the can for years before anything happening w/it. I don't think it's terrible, but it's not really good either. Alec Baldwin was pretty good, but the plot is it kind of flimsy at best. The cast is pretty good in what they're given, but again you are only as good as the script. Baldwin directing this although I could have sworn he didn't direct all of it, I thought I read somewhere or lots of re-shoots wasn't bad but he definitely has some potential in there. Although his work on "30 Rock" is nothing short of genius & should keep him busy for a little while longer. I just hope the show bows out gracefully a la Seinfeld, but maybe not even that long. 9 years it went. So if you want to see a film that you won't get much from, but won't really hate either well this is for you. I can't remember the last time a film had been wrapped so long before finally being released & only on DVD at that. It was nice to see Alec Baldwin & Anthony Hopkins again together since their excellent yet not much people have seen "The Edge." Now pick up that excellent film for some real entertainment.

Anthony Hopkins does not sign on to bad movies, which is why we decided to watch it. It also has a stellar cast and a good script. The weak link though is the timing. The movie plods along which kills the feel of this movie, especially considering that the plot is well known from similar films and so it needs to move along to maintain its freshness.

I think this film is truly cursed! I wonder how much more could happen to it. But, to give the Devil its due, this is really a good film. I saw it at a screening and it had two of the makings of a successful film: Good cast and a good story.

However, the drawbacks are that Baldwin did a mediocre job directing it and an even more mediocre job playing the lead. BUT, in spite of Baldwin's ineptness, it actually turned out to be a very good film. I would go see it again and I would take my family to see it (if they edited out the bedroom scene).

BOTTOM LINE: It's a wonderful and classic story with a wonderful cast and somehow this film has been able to overcome all of the obstacles that stood in its way. Hopkins was great, Hewitt was terrific, Cattrall was excellent and Akroyd, as usual did a very good job.

Don't be put off by all the negative hype, go see it for yourself!!

This is one of those old movies you feel what the hell I'm bored any way, but it is surprisingly good. The editing may be distracting at times but I was captivated by the depth of the story. This movie for me delivers the message across beautifully in a very affective manner. I was really impressed with the acting and how it came alive on screen. One does desire the things of this world but at what cost that message will always be universal no matter what. I also feel this film was not done justice by it's critics rather than only focusing on the visual people often forget the narrative and judge the movie poorly. All in all I enjoyed this film I was captivated from start to finish. I think it deserves to be in my top 100 films of all time.

Once again the same familiar story about a man (writer here) who sell his soul to the devil in order to have his most desired ambition in life: success. Unfunny script (we should "go home and write better"), ridiculous lines in order to understand the "strong" "Christmanish" message (our only aspiration in life is to find love, respect and a good friendship) and a very long trial scene at the end where the agent Hopkins beat the devil (Jennifer Love Hewitt is no sexy or evil at all) for all the bad things she made to this unlikable character. Not bad efforts from the actors (Baldwin also as a director, Cattrall in a "Sex and the City" role again, Aykroyd with some funny lines in his limited role). P.S. Try also a not so popular film from Greece called "Alloimono stous neous", a brilliant adaptation of this myth (an old man give his soul to the devil to get back his youth)