{"id":5932,"date":"2008-10-06T11:39:13","date_gmt":"2008-10-06T18:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5932"},"modified":"2021-01-01T15:02:33","modified_gmt":"2021-01-01T22:02:33","slug":"witches-of-eastwick-the-1987","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5932","title":{"rendered":"Witches of Eastwick, The (1987)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;It&#8217;s <em>women<\/em> who are the source: the only power. Nature, birth, rebirth&#8230; Cliche? Cliche, sure &#8212; but true.&#8221;<\/strong> <\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/Witches-of-Eastwick-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/Witches-of-Eastwick-Poster-200x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"200\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-61074\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/Witches-of-Eastwick-Poster-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/Witches-of-Eastwick-Poster-85x128.jpg 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/Witches-of-Eastwick-Poster-180x270.jpg 180w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/Witches-of-Eastwick-Poster.jpg 503w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen three women &#8212; a potter (Cher), a journalist (Michelle Pfeiffer) and a cellist (Susan Sarandon) &#8212; wish for the man of their dreams to appear, a hedonistic stranger (Jack Nicholson) suddenly arrives in town and changes their lives forever.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Black Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Catalysts<\/li>\n<li>Character Arc<\/li>\n<li>Cher Films<\/li>\n<li>Fantasy<\/li>\n<li>Feminism and Women&#8217;s Issues<\/li>\n<li>Jack Nicholson Films<\/li>\n<li>Susan Sarandon Films<\/li>\n<li>Witches, Wizards and Magicians<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nGeorge Miller&#8217;s adaptation of John Updike&#8217;s bestselling 1984 novel is ultimately a disappointment. While the three female leads <em>are<\/em> clearly witches of one kind or another (as indicated by the film&#8217;s very title), the script never offers any explanation of how or why they came to possess their supernatural powers (can they only achieve magic when &#8220;working&#8221; together?), or what &#8212; if any &#8212; deeper relevance this holds for them as repressed women in a small American town. Though it&#8217;s clear that they are responsible for unintentionally invoking Nicholson&#8217;s character, his identity as (presumably) the devil incarnate makes one question the dynamics of power that emerge: who&#8217;s in control of who here? And why are these particular women granted such specific powers? Hints of feminist themes emerge every now and then &#8212; particularly during Nicholson&#8217;s seductive diatribes (&#8220;Men are such cocksuckers, aren&#8217;t they?&#8221;) &#8212; but are never sufficiently explored. <\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the witches&#8217; thematic counterpart &#8212; the prim wife (Veronica Cartwright) of the town&#8217;s editor (Richard Jenkins) &#8212; is provided with just as little explanatory grist. She&#8217;s a symbol rather than a three-dimensional character &#8212; and when her situation becomes gruesomely dire by the final third of the film, audiences will be utterly confused about how or why she&#8217;s forced to suffer such an unhappy fate. While the film&#8217;s pre-CGI special effects are memorable, and the actors &#8212; particularly Nicholson, Sarandon, and Cartwright &#8212; have great fun with their parts, <em>The Witches of Eastwick<\/em> ultimately hasn&#8217;t held up well enough to recommend as must-see viewing. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Jack Nicholson as Daryl Van Horne<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/witches-nicholson.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/witches-nicholson.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5934\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Susan Sarandon as Jane<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/witches-sarandon.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/witches-sarandon.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5935\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Veronica Cartwright as Felicia Alden<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/witches-cartwright.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/witches-cartwright.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5936\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo; while it holds some historical interest (particularly since it&#8217;s been remade as a <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Witches_of_Eastwick_(musical)\">comedic musical<\/a>), it&#8217;s no longer must-see viewing. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0094332\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/movies.nytimes.com\/movie\/review?_r=1&#038;res=9B0DE4DD143CF931A25755C0A961948260&#038;oref=slogin\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/the-witches-of-eastwick-1987\">Roger Ebert&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-srv\/style\/longterm\/movies\/videos\/thewitchesofeastwickrhowe_a0b0ca.htm\">Washington Post Review (Desson Howe)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-srv\/style\/longterm\/movies\/videos\/thewitchesofeastwickrkempley_a0caa7.htm\">Washington Post Review (Rita Kempley)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.moriareviews.com\/fantasy\/witches-of-eastwick-1987.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/the-witches-of-eastwick-2\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s women who are the source: the only power. Nature, birth, rebirth&#8230; Cliche? Cliche, sure &#8212; but true.&#8221; Synopsis: When three women &#8212; a potter (Cher), a journalist (Michelle Pfeiffer) and a cellist (Susan Sarandon) &#8212; wish for the man of their dreams to appear, a hedonistic stranger (Jack Nicholson) suddenly arrives in town and changes their lives forever. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Black Comedy Catalysts Character Arc Cher Films Fantasy Feminism and Women&#8217;s Issues Jack Nicholson Films Susan&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5932\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5932"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5932\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61076,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5932\/revisions\/61076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}