I know it�s illogical, but I�ve just seen �The Man on The Moon� the day after seeing �Bruce Almighty.� Alrighty. And in light of Man on The Moon�s genius presentation and staggeringly superb performance from Jim Carrey, �Bruce Almighty� is � in comparison � weaker than Mr. Muscle at-birth.
Morgan Freeman plays God, and he � as an actor � never fails to bestow an awesome presence to prevailing proceedings, but Jim Carrey�s character as Bruce is such a pathetically arrogant and insecure goofball he just plain annoys. Likewise, Jennifer Aniston who plays his girlfriend is equally as annoying and just isn�t funny.
The jokes are lamer than a sedated, one-legged llama and there are but a couple of piss-hilarious moments. �Bruce Almighty,� if anyone has noticed, is basically a contrived re-working of Carrey�s 1994 star-affirming vehicle �The Mask.� His character is down on his luck and demands that God intervene to help to get both his personal and professional lives back in happy, smiling check� and thus God kindly lumps his powers onto Bruce to see how he�d cope �at the top.� But instead of using his powers to help others, he selflessly has a laugh to better his own situation.
Freeman cuts a decent, dapper God (decked in perfect white suit) and Carrey acts his usual daft self, as the glum and sulky Aniston does little but moan (which isn�t anything new if you�re familiar with Friends� character Rachel!).
But c�mon, this movie is directed by comedy king Tom Shadyac who�s previously directed Carrey in �Ace Ventura� and �Liar Liar� and this should really be funnier than egging your worst enemy. It�s not that Carrey�s trademark OTT acting style is particularly wearing thin; moreover, there are simply no decent jokes here for him to work with.
Away from time-wasting dross like this and in more challenging roles Carrey always exceeds expectations to prove he�s one of the funniest and yet versatile actors of this Hollywood-heated generation. When he plays his leading men �straight� (or at least �straighter�) as in the awe-inspiringly original �Truman Show� satire, the astounding �Man on The Moon� story and more recently �The Majestic,� he�s fully deserving of a Best Actor Oscar. From now on I hope he retains his integrity by being pickier with the movies he makes instead of pursuing movies that will grant him the biggest paycheck over the quality and originality of the story and scripts involved.
Bruce Almighty�s just about all shitey then. 3/5 (STEVE RUDD)