I have seen and enjoyed several movies over the years that have featured witches or magic in some way. I recently watched The Witches of Eastwick again, a very entertaining movie that dealt with magic and the supernatural.
Alexandra Medford, Jane Spofford, and Sukie Ridgemont were best friends living in the small town of Eastwick. None of them had a man in their life with Sukie and Jane divorced and Alexandra a widow. One Thursday evening, when they normally spent the evening together, they talked about their ideas for an ideal man.
Soon after that, everyone in Eastwick was talking about the man that had shown up and bought the Lennox house but no one could remember his name until after he turned up at a recital Jane was performing in. After that, Daryl Van Horne spent time starting sexual relationships with all three women who seemed content to share him after a brief bit of jealousy. The people in town knew something was going on and were very disapproving. The women admitted that Daryl had some kind of supernatural power and decided that they needed to do something to make him go away.
The Witches of Eastwick was based on the novel of the same name by John Updike. I’ve never read the book, so I don’t how close the movie stayed to the source material. Most of the time when books are turned into movies, there are changes, so there were probably at least a few.
The Witches of Eastwick has been classified as a comedy by some people and even the back of the DVD case does that. I think it was more of a black comedy since several of the things that happened were a bit twisted and could be considered disturbing. The movie did make me laugh several times but I don’t think of it as an extremely funny movie. I felt like there was more focus on the supernatural things and the friendship between the women with some humorous bits added in. This isn’t a movie for everyone, so there will be viewers who don’t appreciate the humor.
Supernatural elements played an important part throughout The Witches of Eastwick. Even the title of the movie indicated that witches would be involved in the movie in some way. Strange things seemed to happen around Alexandra, Jane, and Sukie like when they were all wishing something would happen and then it did. It was never actually said that the women were witches, but it certainly seemed like they were even though they were unaware of their abilities for a while. As the movie progressed, it became clear that Daryl had some kind of power of his own and he was even described as the Devil. I really enjoyed the supernatural elements and thought they helped to make the movie more entertaining and interesting. People that don’t like movies about magic or supernatural things should pick a different movie.
It wasn’t exactly clear what was going on with Daryl and the women at first, so that did add a small amount of mystery to The Witches of Eastwick. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen a few different times even though I didn’t think the movie was really suspenseful. Some of what happened might be disturbing to some viewers. A couple of characters did end up hurt but there really wasn’t violence in the movie. Gross things happened in a couple of scenes and I could have done without seeing all the snakes in one scene. Thankfully, they weren’t shown for very long. I felt that there was more time spent showing the friendship between the women and how Daryl impacted and changed it.
Alexandra, Jane, and Sukie had all been married and had their marriages end in different ways. Alexandra was a widow and the other two were divorced, with Jane’s having just been finalized. None of them were involved with anyone when Daryl turned up in town. He wasted no time in seducing all three women. The women, especially Jane, were a bit jealous about sharing Daryl at first, but they seemed to quickly get over it and seemed perfectly content sharing him. It was made clear that Daryl was having sex with all three women even though there weren’t any actual sex scenes and there was no nudity. That made me happy since I really didn’t care to see Nicholson in sex scenes. There were several sexual situations and discussions throughout the movie. The characters, especially Daryl, swore as well, which was a big reason why the movie was rated R. This isn’t a movie for young children.
Alexandra, Jane, and Sukie had been friends for a long time even though they were different. Alexandra was a sculptor and very level headed most of the time. Cher was good and believable in the part. Jane was very proper and reserved until after she met Daryl. All three women changed a bit after meeting him, but it was most noticeable in Jane. She became much more free spirited, literally letting her hair down from the french braids she always wore. Susan Sarandon was good in the movie. Sukie worked for the local newspaper and had six children. She was a very kind hearted woman. I really liked Michelle Pfeiffer in the part.
Daryl Van Horne was a very mysterious man when he arrived in Eastwick. He made things happen and he made the women happy for a while and even had them happy to be sharing him. Daryl was very manipulative and tended to get what he wanted. Jack Nicholson was very good in the part and made him a believable character. Fidel was around in a few scenes. He seemed to be like a butler. Felicia Alden was a very prim and proper woman in Eastwick that had a very strong negative reaction to Daryl buying the house. She seemed to be cracking up as the movie progressed and Veronica Cartwright was wonderful in the part. Richard Jenkins was fine as Felicia’s husband who wasn’t sure what was going on with his wife.
Main Cast
Veronica Cartwright - Felicia Alden Cher - Alexandra Medford Richard Jenkins - Clyde Alden Jack Nicholson - Daryl Van Horne Michelle Pfeiffer - Sukie Ridgemont Susan Sarandon - Jane Spofford Carel Struycken - Fidel
George Miller - Director
DVD Information
I picked up The Witches of Eastwick on DVD a couple of years ago for $5.50. The disc has the widescreen version on one side and the full screen version on the other side. There really weren’t much in the way of extras on the disc. There was information about the making of the movie that was interesting. It would have been nice if there were some interviews or something like that.
The Witches of Eastwick was a very entertaining movie that I enjoy. It isn’t for everyone, but fans of the cast may enjoy it.
Need someone with demonic dash to portray the Devil? There are only two choices. Old Ned himself. And Jack Nicholson. The Witches of Eastwick to the b...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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