What does success mean to you, and how much are you willing to pay for it? This is the all-important question that Shortcut to Happiness poses. Are you prepared to go the whole distance following the ethical route? Or, at some point, will you trade your ethics for a quick result?
Life as a struggling, unpublished writer can be depressing, in particular, if you have “no money left to buy even dog food”. On one such hopeless night, if a she-devil flings off her robe, spreads herself on your lap, and offers you the one thing that you desire the most, will you instantly jump into bed with her and sell your soul for ten years of ‘success’?
Well, Jabez Stone (Alec Baldwin) will. And all of a sudden, he’s a celeb. His crappy books create a sensation. Cash gushes out of his pockets. Everyone’s out to flatter him. And the lights and fakery follow him everywhere. All this is very fine. But frankly, I’m curious to know what he found so appealing in the devil (Jennifer Love Hewitt).
Baldwin is more of a bumbling loser than either a stereotype down-to-the-last-buck writer or a socialite. Hewitt is a pixie. While Anthony Hopkins as Daniel Webster, a bigwig publisher, possesses the brutal shrewdness of a hawk.
Apparently, there’s been some unwanted interference in the post production stage, so it isn’t easy to say who’s responsible for the unpleasant shot transitions, such as the weird wipes and the iris in and out. Further, there are at least a couple of nasty, unintended jump cuts, which give the impression that someone ran out of fillers.
This one’s an interesting take on the classic Dr. Faust and Mephistopheles story. Carrying things to an intellectual level, famous writers from the past such as Hemingway, T.S. Elliot, and Steinbeck are called upon to make a crucial judgment following a philosophical discourse. The treatment is neat. And the dialogues from the otherworldly courtroom scene as well as those that come out of the writer’s typewriter are worthy of literature.
This satirical drama ought to appeal immensely to those who love the offbeat. Baldwin, who in addition to being the lead actor is also the un-credited director of this film, offers a few answers: Success is not a synonym of happiness. There is no shortcut to either. Hunger can be the best inspiration. And your soul is priceless.
