The Witches of Eastwick

If there is anything I know for sure about Hollyweird, if you need  an actor to play a strange, sadistic, criminal, crazy or downright evil character, Jack Nicholson is the man.

Certainly if I were making a movie that required such acting props, he'd be in it.

Then there's the other side to Nicholson, shown in roles he's pulled off flawlessly like Melvin in As Good as it Gets. He can sign on to box office blunders like The Bucket List and Something's Gotta Give and still keep his strong reputation among film fanatics, at least me anyway.

Nicholson can do no wrong in my book. Even as a devilish character with a greasy ponytail and off-kilter costumes, the professional accolades start rolling in.

Nicholson received best actor nods from the New York Circle Film Critics, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, and the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films USA for playing the wild Daryl Van Horne in the 1987 film, The Witches of Eastwick.

I'm guilty of owning the DVD for some time and never pulling it off the shelf, but it made for a perfect movie night selection when my friend Alicia and I resumed our weekly tradition on Monday.

Nicholson is joined by Cher, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer in the kooky tale of three women wishing for the perfect man. They concoct a spell based on their criteria and poof, Daryl Van Horne storms into Eastwick.
It certainly shakes things up a bit when the other residents suffer the wrath of Van Horne sweeping through town in his bathrobe and high tops with his faithful servant, Fidel.

I am glad I chose this title out of the others in my collection I still need to see. Witches of Eastwick has something for everyone and I was initially drawn in by the chick flick mantra when Alexandra (Cher), Jane (Sarandon) and Sukie (Pfeiffer) create the vision for Van Horne over pitchers of martinis while complaining about the men in their lives.
From there the tale expands into comedy and science fiction. It did get just plain weird at times, but, I liked it.
Nicholson seduces each of the women individually and then to have them all live happily ever after at his mansion. But is that what these 1980s "witches" really want? Did they wish for the
wrong man and being ousted from town and their jobs forever? If they wanted to escape from ho-hum Eastwick, possibly.
But it's not that serious, rather a chance to see spells, voodoo and scenes akin to The Exorcist without the fright factor.
I haven't read the John Updike book where the film originated from, but I imagine the narrative of Witches of Eastwick is even more intriguing than the on screen version.
Like I said, Witches of Eastwick is very weird, but when Nicholson completely lets loose to capture Van Horne's mesmerizing and strange character and woo the audience, I was spellbound.