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Shortcut to Happiness

2007 · 102 min

A wry, old-fashioned moral fable that coasts on charm and wit, feeling like a light supernatural courtroom comedy with a cautionary sting.

Directed by
Alec Baldwin
Genres
Fantasy, Comedy, Drama
Tagline
The devil is in the details.
Overview
In Manhattan, the aspirant writer Jabez Stone is a complete loser: he is not able to sell his novels, he lives in a lousy apartment and he does not have success with women. When one of his friends Julius Jenson sells his novel for US$ 190,000.00 to an editor, Jabez fells envy and promises to sell his soul to the devil for success and accidentally kills a woman with his typing machine. The Devil knocks on his door, fixes the situation and seals a contract with Jabez. His low quality novels have bad reviews but become best-sellers; Jabez enriches; has success with women, but has no time for his friends. Jabez meets with the publisher Daniel Webster who offers him a chance to break the contract with the devil.

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Directed by
Alec Baldwin
Genres
Fantasy, Comedy, Drama
In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • satiricalstrength 2 of 3
  • cynicalstrength 2 of 3
  • lightstrength 2 of 3
  • whimsicalstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
easy-watch, 2 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • ambition
  • betrayal
  • morality
  • fate
  • redemption
Places
  • big city
  • workplace
Era
contemporary
Audience
teen
Form
  • twist ending
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language mild
  • Violence mild
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action2
Horror2
Humour6
Realism4
Romance3
Tension4
Darkness4
Complexity5
Emotional weight5

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Cast

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