BRUCE ALMIGHTY

by

debbie lynn elias

Up until now, I have liked Jim Carrey in only two films - "Liar, Liar" and "The Majestic."  After seeing "Bruce Almighty", I like Jim Carrey in two films - "Liar, Liar" and "The Majestic."

Heading up an exemplary cast, Carrey stars as forever disgruntled, ungrateful and never-satisfied-with anything, "human interest" television reporter, Bruce Nolan.  He's got looks, he's got money, he's got popularity, he's got fame, he's got the love of a wonderful girl, but he finds something wrong with everything.  (Okay, I do admit that if I was an on-air reporter wearing a hair net while reporting a story on the baking of the city's biggest cookie, I might be a little gritchy too!)   He wants to be THE news anchor.  He wants to move to a bigger market.  He wants his girlfriend to have bigger boobs  After one particularly bad day (unfortunately, with a guy like this it's tough to differentiate between a good or bad day), Bruce decides to put the blame on - who else - God.  He rants and raves and rages, "The only one around here not doing his job is you! ... Answer me!"    Well, lo and behold, looking amazingly like Morgan Freeman, God does answer, coming to Bruce in human form.  Fed up with Bruce and his behavior (not to mention the rest of the whiners in the world) God dares, better yet, challenges, Bruce to see if he can do any better with the world than God has done for oh these many centuries.  With only two rules to obey - one, Bruce can't tell anyone he's "playing God" and two, he can't affect people's free will - Bruce leaps at the opportunity.

What in the world was God thinking?  Using his newfound powers for the greater good of himself, Bruce is like a kid in a candy store, moving and shaking everything he wants the way he wants.  And of course, with power like this, what's to stop you from tormenting those who you believe have tormented you.    Every antic and wish you can possibly think of pops up here (including the one essential that God should consider anyway - having your pets use the bathroom - and flush when they're done) but as we all know, there is always a price to be paid and whether Bruce can pay that price remains to be seen.

Marking his return to his tried-and-true form after the lukewarm reception of "The Majestic", Carrey plays everything over the top and with such insanity that you get tired - not to mention, annoyed - just watching and listening to him.   Improvising much of his "comedy" (as he often does) and capitalizing on his talent for vocal exaggeration, look for some new catchphrases to be heard around the water cooler like,''It's gooooood'' and ''B-E-A-U-tiful.'' (I was tired of hearing them by the end of the movie.)  As a nice tempering measure to Carrey's off the wall comedy, Jennifer Aniston as Bruce's girlfriend Grace, holds her own, bringing a much needed sensibility to the film and in a change from Carrey's prior films, brings the female lead more to the forefront and more developed as a character.  The one performance though that is head and shoulders above all (and the saving grace of the film),  is that of Morgan Freeman.  Dignified, strong, kind, authoritative yet with a sense of humor (hey, I always knew God had to have a sense of humor - why else would he have given me my brother Ed),  Freeman gives us a loving, surprisingly "human", non-denominational God who even non-believers may find themselves embracing by film's end.

Director Tom Shadyac, a pro in the comedy field (Robin Williams in "Patch Adams" and Carrey in "Liar, Liar" and "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective"), does a somewhat disappointing job here, appearing to give Carrey too free a rein with his performance and shenanigans.  On the up side, he agreed with Jennifer Aniston about the wallpaper, robotic qualities of Grace as initially written and let rewrites and Aniston's talent turn Grace into something more than a cardboard cut-out to place next to Carrey.

The writing team, of Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe and Steve Oedekerk, also comedic veterans with experience ranging from "Late Night with David Letterman" to "Saturday Night Live" to "Patch Adams" and "Ace Ventura",  came up with a great story concept and good script.  But again, Carrey's antics detract, rather than enhance, the telling of the tale. 

Opening May 23, walk or crawl to your nearest theater for this one.  Although Carrey's built-in audience base will undoubtedly be thanking The Almighty this weekend for "Bruce Almighty", with so many other films out there right now, this one can be put on the back burner.  Short of some divine intervention, it should be out of the theater and zooming to home video by the end of the summer.


Bruce Nolan: Jim Carrey
Grace: Jennifer Aniston
God: Morgan Freeman

Directed by: Tom Shadyac
Written by: Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe & Steve Oederkerk

Distributed by Universal Pictures; Rated PG-13