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Bruce Almighty (2003)

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Overall Rating 60%
Overall Rating
Ranked #397
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Connections: Bruce Almighty

Bruce Nolan, a television reporter in Buffalo, N.Y., is discontented with almost everything in life despite his popularity and the love of his girlfriend Grace . At the end of the worst day of his life, Bruce angrily ridicules and rages against God and God responds. God appears in human form and, endowing Bruce with divine powers, challenges Bruce to take on the big job to see if he can do it any better. --IMDb
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Review by Crispy
Added: September 5, 2007
There are many people who look down upon God, viewing Him as nothing more than a kid with a magnifying glass roasting ants. Well, what if an ordinary man was given a chance to see just how strenuous God's responsibilities were? This is our premise of Bruce Almighty.

Bruce Nolan is a Buffalo area reporter, stuck in a rut of those piss assignments the news puts on when they lack actual stuff to report. Stories like a family cooking the biggest cookie in Buffalo, complete with the woman's son picking his nose in the background. After being denied an open position as anchorman, Bruce slowly becomes positive that God is toying with him. He's so obsessed with this that God himself decides to teach him a lesson. He grants Bruce all of His powers, as well as all his responsibilities. With these powers at his disposal he sets out to put his life back in order, but if he wants to play God he'll have to set his sights just a bit higher.

Let's just get this out of the way early on. You can probably enjoy this movie no matter what religion you are, as long as you take the film at face value. If you sit through this pissed off because, "There's no such thing as God" or "God is not something to joke about" or (my personal favorite) "God isn't black!" well you have bigger problems to worry about than this movie.

While primarily a comedy, it's not quite a laugh a minute but it does have enough to get by. However, while the humor is only average, its story makes up for it. After Bruce sees just a touch of what God goes through, the humbling experience he goes through is enough to open everyone's eyes. Sure, it's easy to write off due to its religion theme, but there's a lot of truth in the saying, "Keep your mouth shut unless you've walked a mile in their shoes." Bruce is overwhelmed by the sheer immensity of the prayers coming in, only to find out he's just dealing with a small section of Buffalo.

In all honesty, I really haven't been a big Jim Carrey fan since I was eight. I haven't really been keeping tabs on his career, but when I think Carrey I think inane overacting (Ace Ventura/The Cable Guy) so I was a bit leery going in. Either he's moved on or his performance as Bruce was just a fluke, but here it's kept to a minimum. Sure, that style is still there but just enough to make you go "ha, what a fucking goof" as opposed to "Jesus Christ, shut up." Definitely a change for the better, since his first romp through the city as he's testing his new powers could have been a disaster if he tried to go all out with it. Instead, it's one of the better scenes in the movie. Casting God could have been tricky, but when in doubt, hire Morgan Freeman. I don't think the man could give a bad show if his life depended on it. His portrayal of God as a slightly cynical, smartass was perfectly done. (Bruce: How can I make someone love me if I can't affect their free will? God: Pfft. If you come up with an answer to that one, let me know!)

So yeah, if your religious views aren't going to prevent you from enjoying this one, it's definitely worth a shot. It's decently funny, plus comes complete with a deeper meaning for the kiddies. Give it a rental if nothing else. 7.5/10.
bluemeanie #1: bluemeanie - added September 5, 2007 at 11:00am
Not a bad comedy, by any stretch, but it was basically just Jim Carrey's same old comic bit. True, when it works, it works, but something just seemed a little off with this one. Morgan Freeman was humorous, as were the rest of the players here and I laughed quite a bit, but it seemed somewhat tired. 7/10.
Crispy #2: Crispy - added September 5, 2007 at 3:51pm
So Ace Ventura isn't his norm? That's comforting.
Lucid Dreams #3: Lucid Dreams - added May 17, 2010 at 1:43am
Meh, it was ok. Jim Carrey can get annoying at times, but he was alright in here. Jennifer Aniston however can suck a fat one. 6/10
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