My Review of The Witches Of Eastwick (1987)

 

Written by Michael Cristofer

Directed by George Miller

Alexandra: "Who are you?"

Daryl: "Just your average horny little devil."

Keeping up with the appropriate themed movies for this month, I thought I'd delve a little further back with this movie from 1987. Based on John Updike's book of the same name, it's an adaptation that takes things in a few different directors.

First of all our ladies themselves are physically different from their book description and one character's darker side was a bit toned down. However, that to one side, the performances from the four leads are sublime.

The Witches in question are three ordinary women living in the picturesque town of Eastwick, Rhode Island. We've got music teacher Jane Spofford (Susan Sarandon), sculptor Alexandra Medford (Cher) and journalist Sukie Ridgemont (Michelle Pfeiffer). All three of them have had their problems with men and all three are desperate to meet the right one, regardless of certain anatomy size.

The three also seemed to be mostly unaware of being witches, brushing off earlier incidents as coincidences but the arrival of the mysterious Daryl Van Horne (Jack Nicholson) soon has the three women coming into their power as they get deeply involved with Daryl. 

Of course with their growing power and confidence, there's als outside forces that pick up on their corruption. Notably nosy neighbour Felicia Alden (Veronica Cartwright), the wife of Sukie's boss Clyde (Richard Jenkins). However she's quickly and quote grossly dealt with due to puking up cherries she didn't even consume.

It's Felicia's death, Sukie nearly dying and all three women ending up pregnant by Darryl that see things take a turn. Darryl might have overestimated the women a bit too much and it's him that winds up a cropper when they bind their powers together in order to cast him out. Then they raise his babies in his luxury house, free with a manservant while Daryl remained trapped in the TV. 

- The book had the women with different hair colours and the movie nixed the subplot with Jenny and her brother, Christopher. We lost out on bisexual Darryl.

- There's a sequel book called The Widows Of Eastwick and I'm surprised that hasn't been developed into a movie or show.

- Standout music: Pavarotti's version of Nessun Dorma. 

- Chronology: It's an 1980s setting, unlike the 1970s set source material.

The Witches Of Eastwick might deviate a fair bit from the source material but it's a fun adaptation with Susan Sarandon, Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer and Jack Nicholson all having the time of their lives with the script and just delivering sublime performances throughout. The ending's a tad rushed but everything else worked brilliantly.

Rating: 9 out of 10