MovieChat Forums > The Witches of Eastwick (1987) Discussion > My big problem with this movie

My big problem with this movie

posted 8 years ago by Dreamcatcher9000
5 replies | jump to latest

This movie had all the potentials to be great. It has Nicholson at the peak of his career playing a devilish fun character (a mix of his character from "The Shining" and Joker), it has 3 big female stars at a great time of their career (Pfeiffer was a fresh hot name, Cher had 3 big movies that year only, and won her Oscar the following, and Sarandon also was already famous), it was directed by George Miller, it had a fun dark comedy concept, etc. But for some reason something was bugging me with it all these years. And after I re-watched it recently, after many-many years, I realised what it was.

There was nothing supernatural going on in this town before Nicholson came, right? It wasn't like these 3 women (and the town) had already experiences with witchcraft and all that, they were 3 typical women.
So this guy comes, he's strange, there's something weird about him, so he attracts them with being who he is, and when he starts doing his magical stuff IN FRONT OF THEM (first time in the tennis court)...none of them wonders "hey, what's going on, how does he do all that??". I mean, they first see the tennis ball pausing in the air, and go to slow motion and stuff, and then in his mansion, these women fly and all that, and...they never ask each other or him how is this happening! It's like they think "huh, ok, so he's a wizard, cool".
And after Pfeiffer gets sick, Cher goes to him and says to stop it. Without asking him how can he do it, how can he harm them like that.
And at the end, they do the witchcraft stuff to him like...they were already witches! They never say "ok, he's the Devil himself, and we have to fight him by learning witchcraft ourselves". No, they just open that book like it's a cooking book, and they start making the "recipe" to harm him.

I don't know what made the filmmakers to go to that direction, for the 3 of them never asking "wtf is going on here?". I'm sure they thought about it, maybe they even shot some relative scenes, but deleted them. It's a big plothole that ruins the (other than that, not bad) movie for me.

[–] ryansassy1 8 years ago

Agreed..much as I love this film, it's a plot hole that the women don't seem fazed by sudden supernatural happenings, and already seem to know how to cast spells...just open a book and there ya go. They weren't previously witches according to the film...unless this was all based on a book that explains this better, but still: we shouldn't have to know the source material in order for the film to make sense.
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[–] shoppermom26 8 years ago

It's been a long while since I read the book but I'm recalling that they were already witches before he came to town. Not to that extent, but they knew they had powers of some kind

[–] [deleted] 7 years ago

I thought the same thing myself. I guess it's just one of those movies where a bit of suspension of disbelief is required. Since it's a comedy, I suppose the idea is that our three protagonists are so braindead under the seductive charm of Daryl that they forget to question how he's able to use telekinesis.

I don't really see it as a problem, as it is funny and fits the sorta tone Miller was going for. However, I do think the voodoo stuff at the end needed to be set up more. It just sorta comes outta nowhere. Was this book ever mentioned earlier in the film? And how does Daryl appear in the TV at the end?

Yet somehow, these things don't really bother me, 'cause the film's just too damn fun as a whole.

[–] Oscar (114) 7 years ago

We can guess they had a conversation "between the scenes" about his powers. It wouldn't have been interesting to see them sitting there, discussing how the magical things were happening.
Well, it might have been if it was a paranormal drama, but it's not, it's a fun film with magical elements. If someone's house/presence causes tennis balls to behave strangely and change the weather, and allows you to levitate, you can assume they have powers.

[–] Drooch (5333) 6 years ago

I agree. The film has really memorable sequences but a good story needs leading characters who share the experience of the audience. It creates a disconnect when the three women - our protagonists - don’t react authentically to WTF supernatural shit. Instead of Pfeiffer freaking out over a floating tennis ball... she’s hitting it with her ass and giggling.

It’s also a strange blend of comedy and horror. One minute we’re having a warm chuckle as a newly liberated Sarandon turns the schoolkids band into an orchestra, the next some guy brains his wife to death because she became possessed by the devil, went insane and uncontrollably spewed fruit all over their house. Again, it needed some real human reactions to stitch it all together.