It might seem funny that the remake to The Devil and Daniel Webster was given a new title, but it's quite fitting: the 1941 original had a different title up until 1952 as well (All That Money Can Buy). So, Shortcut to Happiness is another version of the age old phrase, "I'd sell my soul to the Devil for. . ." When the Devil shows up with a contract offering a "shortcut to happiness", many folks will just ask for a pen.
This remake is pretty different, though. It's very light, whereas Walter Huston scared the pants off of the audience in 1941 with his non-blinking stare and impish grin. Jennifer Love Hewitt plays the Devil, and she's irresistible in her own way. Instead of using magic and fear, she's just gorgeous and inspires confidence. Alec Baldwin is a struggling writer who sells his soul for a successful career as a novelist - also different than the farmer (with the same name, though) without enough money to put food on the table. After Alec gets everything he wants, he doesn't like Jennifer's collection, so he enlists Anthony Hopkins, a book publisher named Daniel Webster, to fight the Devil on his behalf.
It's an entertaining story, and if you like the cast and would rather just be entertained than frightened, check the remake out first. The black-and-white version is pretty creepy, so it's not really a movie I like to watch all the time.
