SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

GetPapa Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

Stephan Hammond It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

mathou_gdk I saw this movie because of Jennifer Love Hewitt (she's so cute!), but, well, maybe i shouldn't have. It isn't exactly boring, but it isn't interesting neither.It's not the worst movie ever, it has some great ideas but they're not as exploited as they could have been, the acting is decent (except for Alec Baldwin who just overdoes it).If you don't have anything better to do (or to watch), well, it will keep you busy for an hour and a half... But maybe you'd better check Bedazzled out, it's way more funny than Shortcut to Happiness ! (PS: Sorry if I made some syntax or spelling mistakes, i'm french)

kyleuhland 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.

Claudio Carvalho In Manhattan, the aspirant writer Jabez Stone (Alec Baldwyn) is a complete loser: he is not able to sell his novels, he lives in a lousy apartment and he does not have success with women. When one of his friends Julius Jenson (Dan Aykroyd) sells his novel for US$ 190,000.00 to an editor, Jabez fells envy and promises to sell his soul to the devil for success and accidentally kills a woman with his typing machine. The Devil (Jeniffer Love Hewitt) knocks on his door, fixes the situation and seals a contract with Jabez. His low quality novels have bad reviews but become best-sellers; Jabez enriches; has success with women, but has no time for his friends. Jabez meets with the publisher Daniel Webster (Anthony Hopkins) who offers him a chance to break the contract with the devil."The Devil and Daniel Webster" is an original and delightful version of Faust, alternating comedy and drama and giving great messages in the end. The lovely and cute Jeniffer Love Hewitt "steals" the movie with her interpretation of a sexy and smart devil. Anthony Hopkins has another top-notch performance. Kim Cattrall is very comfortable performing Constance Hurry that recalls Samantha, from "Sex and the City". Dan Aykroid shows talent in his dramatic interpretation and is a good surprise. Alec Baldwyn has a good performance too in spite of some bad reviews, and I did not know that the director Harry Kirkpatrick is actually a pseudonym of Alec Baldwyn. In the end, this movie is a pleasant and worthwhile entertainment. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "O Julgamento do Diabo" ("The Trial of the Devil")

Sean Daniel When I first saw The Devil and Daniel Webster I was in amazement of how good it was. I was thinking about it for a long time after and when I got to watch it recently on a DVD, it made me think about it all over again but this time raises some questions.I didn't find it as good the second time round since the time that I first saw it but in the recent viewing I was paying more attention than before. I still think Alec Baldwin was maybe not right as Jabez Stone. He has some good moments but I think he has to many moments where he is trying to act is ass off and making it look obvious. Is it me or in some scenes where Baldwin is talking he sounds kind of goofy and over the top. Just a thought.Anthony Hopkins was perfect as Daniel Webster but again, isn't he always? Whatever shortfalls his film has, Hopkins makes up for it in his charm and charisma which he tackles head on easily throughout the movie.The best acting we get here is from Dan Akroyd and Jennifer Love but especially Hewitt, which is no surprise to me considering how well she has done in some of her previous films. The story doesn't really kick off till the very end where everything unfolds very fast to an entertaining climax which without this film would have failed badly. I don't know much about producer Michael Z. Gordon's previous work except with the good film "Narc", but I am impressed with how he handled this film.