Rating: 5/10
Review date: June 6, 2003
Jim Carrey stars as Bruce Nolan, a newsman in a small town who has always been very unfortunate in whatever he is doing. For example, he can�t get promoted at work, had a fight with his girlfriend, get beaten up by some thugs while trying to help a beggar (and the list goes on and on). One day he got sick of his life and start cursing God for his life but then God responds unexpectedly and decided to bless Bruce with His divine power while He went on vacation. Predictably, Bruce begins to use God�s power in a selfish way which ultimately screws things up instead of making his life better�
I still remember seeing the trailer for this movie and finding it quite funny and amusing. However, the end product doesn�t turn out to be as good as I expect it to be. I personally find that the story has a lot of potential but the producers somehow don�t develop this movie further. What I mean is I kind of expected to see Nolan affecting other parts of the world instead of confining his silly �adventures� in his small town.
I also find the acting to be rather bland most of the time but I guess this is expected as well from this type of movie (especially the ones with Jim Carrey in it). Jennifer Aniston acted pretty well here although I thought that her character was rather undeveloped somehow (whatever that means).
This movie does provide some really funny scenes such as the one where Nolan �disturbs� his rival newsman when he is reporting the news. Aside from some full blown laugh scenes here and there, the movie falls flat with lame jokes that could have been replaced with better ones or taken out altogether.
One thing I do like from his movie is that it also tries to incorporate some of the issues relating God that people commonly like to talk about. They made a good attempt of tackling the issues of free will which makes for quite an interesting topic to be discussed about in the movie.
The movie also provides some references to the Bible such as Jesus turning water into wine and Moses splitting the Red Sea in two which I find quite amusing, funny and much appreciated at the same time.
Regardless of what I feel/said about this movie, as with all comedy movies in general, it is ultimately up to individuals to decide whether they like it or not since it is a very subjective issue which always varies from person to person. I do believe though that fans of Jim Carrey (and maybe Jennifer Aniston as well) would love this movie do don�t be put off by my review if you fall in one of those category. The bottom line is Bruce Almighty might not be worth watching in the cinema but I guess it is alright to spend a few bucks on rental and have some cheap laughs at home when you have nothing better to do.
Memorable quote: �I am Bruce Almighty. My will be done!�
-Jim Carrey as Bruce Nolan-
(c) Martin Taidy 2003