The Witches of Eastwick (1987)

Director: George Miller

Writers: John Updike (novel), Michael Cristofer (screenplay)

Stars: Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer 

Bottom line: IMDB says The Witches of Eastwick is a fantasy/comedy. Did I learn anything, heartily laugh and will I watch it again? Nah. Am I upset by seeing it? Nope, it's on a bunch of Halloween movie lists although I wouldn't put it high up on mine. 

2/5

Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer are very close friends and all single. Cher is an artist. Susan Sarandon is a tightly wound music teacher and musician. Michelle Pfeiffer is a single mother of 7 daughters. They have a weekly hangout together where they have drinks and whatnot. 

They are venting about men, specifically, what's in their dream guy. Lo and behold that guy appears in town the next day. Coincidence I think not! But is he everything the women wanted or is he slightly more diabolic?

So, like I said in the bottom line, IMDB says this is a fantasy/comedy. There's magic and all that so, there ya go, fantasy. Now, the comedy part is a little trickier. There are some parts that I did one of those sharp exhalations from my nose. Not quite a snort or a laugh but something of a humph. Are we supposed to take Nicholson's rants about how terrible women are as the comedy monologues of the film? I'm not so sure. It feels dated.

Acting wise, it's ok. The three women have a great chemistry and they work well together. I'd say their relationship and dynamic was the highlight of the movie. Jack Nicholson was a bit weaker. He felt like this was closer to his role as The Joker in Batman. My wife suggested, and I agree, that it was borderline Jim Carrey in enthusiasm and over-the-top antics. Take that for what you will...

In terms of direction, George Miller sounded familiar, he's the guy behind the Mad Max movies. There were some shots that made me think of Wes Anderson in their structure so I'd be curious to see if there were any Miller calling cards through his other films.

The music is done by John Williams which I found surprising, it didn't totally sound like him. John Williams, if you aren't familiar, has done like everything. Just looking at his Wikipedia page -- wait, I'm sorry, he has a separate page for just his discography, that's what I'm reading -- to see what he's done. Just check it out. You've probably heard his stuff and didn't realize it. He did Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, Jaws. When I went to the University of Pittsburgh, there was a film class devoted just to his musical scores. In some of his major works (like the aforementioned ones), he has a really distinct style. The Witches of Eastwick, however, sounds different. It's neat to hear something that isn't clearly John Williams that I'm used it.

Overall, there were some pleasant points to The Witches of Eastwick and there were meh points. I liked the dynamic between the three Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer so they made it more enjoyable than it if we were just left with Jack Nicholson. This is a movie that appears in a bunch of Halloween movie lists but I haven't been drawn to watch it before. I'm glad I finally saw it but it was partially because we were out of ideas for Halloween movies; we're saving the big ones like Hocus Pocus for closer to All Hallows Eve. That said, would I recommend it? Probably not. There are better ways to spend two hours.

Now, one thing that I'd like to add before I end this post but mind yourself of ever so mild spoilers for this next part. I was afraid when Nicholson seduced Cher and then Susan Sarandon that we'd have a jealously subplot going on. I was relieved that they didn't do that and I was surprised that they nonchalantly went into like a polyamorous relationship. I can't think of another movie that does that (at least that I've seen). Maybe Y Tu Mama Tambien? Nah, like a portion of that movie is them dealing with jealousy.

Similarly, when the women were fighting about their potential magical powers, their fight didn't last too long. We didn't have to slog through like a 20 minute reconciliation sequence. It was like, Pfeiffer's in trouble, boom we're together again.

Sheesh it's been a while since my last post but, I hope you enjoyed! What's on your Halloween movie queue? I'll have to look through my previous posts; I'm sure I did a round of Halloween movies already. Maybe I'll fill in the gaps in the coming weeks.

Thanks for reading!