Shortcut to Happiness
| Shortcut to Happiness | |
|---|---|
Movie poster
|
|
| Directed by | Alec Baldwin (credited as "Harry Kirkpatrick") |
| Produced by |
Randall Emmett George Furla Bob Yari David Glasser |
| Written by |
Pete Dexter Bill Condon Nancy Cassaro (screenplay) Stephen Vincent Benet (story) Archibald Macleish (play) |
| Starring |
Anthony Hopkins Jennifer Love Hewitt Alec Baldwin Dan Aykroyd Kim Cattrall Amy Poehler |
| Music by |
Ramin Djawadi Christopher Young |
| Cinematography | Adam Holender |
|
Production
company |
|
| Distributed by | Yari Film Group |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
105 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $25,000,000 |
Shortcut to Happiness is a 2003 film adaptation of the Stephen Vincent Benet classic short story The Devil and Daniel Webster. It stars Anthony Hopkins as Daniel Webster, Alec Baldwin as Jabez Stone, and Jennifer Love Hewitt as The Devil. Baldwin also directed the film.
It was plagued with financial difficulties and the film was shelved for several years. In 2007 Yari Film Group released the film to theaters.
Jabez Stone (Alec Baldwin) is a desperate, down on his luck writer who reaches rock bottom when his close friend, Julius Jensen (Dan Aykroyd), finds success. In his attempts to get his work published, he meets a beautiful stranger (Jennifer Love Hewitt) who offers him a chance at fame and fortune in exchange for his soul. Stone, having lost faith in himself, agrees to the offer.
After accepting the deal Jabez is quickly lavished with all he had ever dreamed of. A book deal, money, women, notoriety, Stone now had it all. However, despite the success, he is losing the friendship, respect and trust of those around him. Coming to the realization that he didn't quite get everything he bargained for, Stone begs the Devil to release him from their deal. When the Devil scoffs he turns to famed orator Daniel Webster (Anthony Hopkins). The two conclude that they should take the battle to court with Webster defending Stone in an otherworldly trial against the Devil in the ultimate battle of wits in a fight over the fate of Stone's soul.
Shot in early 2001 in New York City, the film was plagued with financial difficulties. During post-production Baldwin had said the movie was taken from him. Due to this and other creative differences, Baldwin had his name removed from the directing credit; the name was ultimately replaced with the pseudonym "Harry Kirkpatrick". Bob Yari bought the film from a bankruptcy court for an undisclosed amount, but was said to be several million dollars. Once the film cleared to be sold for distribution, a rough cut was screened at film festivals in 2003 and 2004, though much of the film's post-production work was never finished. The film needed further financing to complete the editing and special effects, as well as to replace temporary music.
...
Wikipedia