Orbi-Wan Techno

Again, being associated with the military has its benefits. My wife and I just returned from our local base theater and a sneak preview of BRUCE ALMIGHTY, Jim Carrey's latest, and a return to the style of comedy we first saw in ACE VENTURA. This time, however, the comedy is not so crude (although there are a couple of absolutely laugh-out-loud rude scenes), and there's an underlying message about prayer, free will and what we truely need verses what we want.

Before I really start, I just want to say that we both went to see BA with expectations that it would be very sacreligious. Both my wife and I are devout church goers and workers, and were VERY pleasantly surprised at how respectful (and insightful)of God this film was.

Bruce Nolan is a Buffalo NY TV reporter who dreams of getting the anchor position at his station, as the senior anchor prepares to retire. Instead, he is relegated to covering fluff stories, and on the day he thinks he's getting his big break , the position is given to a rival. This causes Bruce to snap on air (very funny), and after he's physically tossed out of the station, a run-in with street toughs pushes him over his breaking point. In a conversation with his live-in girlfriend (a terrific Jennifer Anniston), he blames all of his problems on God, comparing him to a big kid sitting on an ant hill with a magnifying glass. After wrecking his car, Bruce challenges God to smite him, or at least come down and explain why things were happening to him.

Before long, Bruce does meet God (Morgan Freeman, perfect in the role), and as we've seen in the trailers, God gives Bruce his powers (although in a limited area). Bruce immediately does what any human would do, experimenting with, then exploiting, his powers for his own benefit. Problem is, many of the things he does have far-ranging consequences, and soon chaos reigns in Buffalo. Bruce soon finds out that being all powerful can be a lonely job, and that it will not necessarily give you everything you want.

There are some very, very funny things in this movie. My face hurt from laughing so hard, especially during the on-air breakdown of the rival anchor -- caused by Bruce. Most of the PG-13 stuff involves Bruce's first night of power and his seduction of his girlfriend. There are about 3 minutes of outtakes at the end, which are okay.

As a comedy with a pseudo-Christian message, it works to a certain extent. As a straight comedy, it's gonna be a hit. Three out of four stars from us.

FrankieG

Thanks for the review. It's hard to tell from the commercials if it would hold together, but looked funny. Thanks

Orbi-Wan Techno

I think a lot of people are going to be surprised at just how positive a Christian message this movie has. My wife and I have talked about it since last night, and she's seeing it again today at a sneak at another local military theater across town (we have two in our area, and they do sneaks within a day of each other -- Italian Job and 2 Fast 2 Furious coming up in the next couple of weeks). The more we think about the subtle and not so subtle stuff in Bruce Almighty, the more we like it. I'm afraid that a lot of people are going to go see it looking for a crude, rude Jim Carrey movie (and there are a couple of scenes that are -- one involving a monkey emerging from an unfortunate spot, and the other involving female arousal), but the story is of a guy who knows of God, but has a skewed view of Him, who gets to know and understand God, and develops, very poignantly, a strong, realistic relationship with a loving, caring, but firm, Creator. And I also think that a lot of "religious" people are going to avoid BA, because they will write it off as blasphemous, which it is absolutely not -- in fact it is quite the opposite.

You can read an interview with the director here. I hope this movie does well. I applaud Universal for having the guts to make such a pro-God film. A spot is already reserved on my DVD shelf for it.

FredC

I saw the screening of this movie last night and do agree that the religious aspect of teh movie was handled very well. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, and there were parts where literally, the whole theater was laughing. While not as off the wall as some of Carrey's earlier works, this movie was a step back into that type of comedy. Worth seeing for Jim Carrey Fans.

silentbob007

I didn't mind the Christian message. What irritated me was the way the director treats the audience like complete morons and absolutely hammers in his point about miracles.

Kal-El

After reading that interview, I have to say I'm more interested ni seeing this than before.

Frank TJ Mackey

This is just your run-of-the-mill Jim Carrey vehicle.

I enjoyed it and found it funny in parts and entertaining throughout.

It only runs about 93 minutes so it doesn't get old.

There's not much of Morgan Freeman and Jennifer Aniston
disappears for chunks at a time.

Carrey is funny as usual and the special effects are interesting
to look at but not spectacular or anything.

Basically, if you like Jim Carrey movies then you'll enjoy
"Bruce Almighty."

It's not as funny as "Liar, Liar" or "Dumb and Dumber" but it
has its moments.

*** out of **** stars

Patman

Funny 1st act, sentimental 2nd act, adequate 3rd act. There are a few gut busters, but I thought there was more material to mine from this situation.

The direction in the 1st act (mainly of the characters played by Jim Carrey (Bruce) and Jennifer Anniston (Grace) in their apartment) was pretty clumsy looking, the shot composition was just a little on the amaturish side.

Recommended as a matinee.

I give it 2.75 stars, or a grade of B-.

DVDTalker002

Face it guys Carrey will not have another good movie ever. RIP his last good movie dumb and dumber.

Dr. DVD

Saw it. Thought it was amusing, but not the funniest Carrey flick (that would be Liar,Liar). I feel that had Peter Weir of Truman Show directed this it would have been a truly intriguing movie, but I doubt deep thoughts were the point of this flick. It is what it is.

Kudos for actually placing a spiritual message in the movie, but it seemed somewhat out of place amongst the crude humor.

I would give it a B-. If you're a teen, go see it, otherwise wait for DVD.

lesterlong

Please don't stereotype us. I will never see this as it looks absolutely horrible.

mdc3000

I liked it... It was pretty darn funny, but certainly not Carrey's best...but amusing... I'm a christian, but I thought the whole religious/miracles theme was hammered far too much and really weakend the movie... and I know they needed to set up the premise, but does anyone really blame God for every single bad thing that happens to them? "I've tripped over my shoe-lace...God? How could you do this to me!!!"... that kind of thing in the first few minutes was a little much, but overall, for a comedy, it's pretty decent, just when the sentimental stuff kicks in, it's a bit too much and weakens the movie.

MATT

Hokeyboy

Carrey's audience is divided into four camps:

1. Those who want to continue see him talking out of his bumhole forever, and lose their minds if he ever tries to branch out.

2. Those who can't stand his dumbass comedies and appreciate his riskier roles, anything from Man On The Moon to the dark comedic genius of Cable Guy.

3. Those who enjoyed his dumbass comedies but wouldn't object if he never did another one, and like his expansion into more dramatic roles even if they thought The Truman Show was overrated fluff.

4. Jeff Schwartz of Coral Gables, Florida

I'm in the third camp and will be seeing Bruce Almighty tonite. Don't believe me? I'll break you with my bare hands!!

matome

Another movie where the funniest parts were all shown in the trailer.

Michael T Hudson

My wife loved it I think it was ok. It remined me of Dear God a lot.

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0116059

Calistoga

Very funny movie....left the theater with a smile.

Hokeyboy

Not true at all. Even if you've seen all the trailer bits, there is a lot of humor to be discovered. Have you seen the movie?

matome

Yes, I did see the movie. Of course I'm not saying it was totally devoid of humor, but it pales in comparison to his work in Dumb & Dumber and The Mask. A lot of the bits went on too long or were just flat like the doggie training, email prayer thing or his controlling the anchor man's outburst (much funnier in the outtakes with Catherine Bell). I also agree with the above poster who mentioned about the sentimental stuff dragging it down. It should've spent more time on his experimenting/abusing of his newfound powers.

JaxComet

Rental material....

calhoun07

Definately worth buying on DVD! I know it's not his best comedy, but it's a great addition to his list of already great movies. And I am not even going to try to rank the others, but I would place this one with the best of Carrey. The whole complaining to God thing....well, I kinda agree with an earlier poster that it did seem he was whining about too much to God. Would somebody really blame God if they stepped in a pot hole? Or if they had a bad day at work? No. I actually expected some more Job like stuff to happen to him before he finally snapped, but that moment never came. But maybe that was the point of the movie, and his relationship with God in the end, that ALL that stuff was crap he brought on himself, so I guess in the end, it made sense, but at the beginning of the movie, he was worse than the people he later called "Whiners" and turned them all off from answering their prayers.

It was a tasteful, and safe, movie for both secular and Christian audiences. It's an amusing twist on what everybody has thought of at least some point in their life, and I loved the portrayal of God in this movie. If I was to imagine God as a human, it would be alot like God from this movie. And to those who feel they saw too much from the trailers, I don't think so. Some of the best laughs are saved for the theater, trust me.

Kal-El

Loved it. Equal parts funny stuff and good stuff.
Trailers don't even come close to the movie. Go see it.

Ray_Chill

I just got back from watching Bruce Almighty at the theatre. I had very mixed reactions to this movie with regards to its attempts at trying to get a Christian viewpoint accross with a comedic slant. Not too sure about this. I personally thought Carrey was a miscast for this movie. Not really sure why, other then the script didn't have a long enough "gag-reel" to support a Carrey-style actor. I'm not saying the movie didn't have a lot of funny parts though. I did enjoy the movie once I understood the "angle" that was being taken.

P.S. What kind of car was that that Carrey "gave" himself?

CROM1

mikehunt

just got back, thought it was pretty good. I prefer Carrey in a semi-serious role versus a Dumb and Dumber/Ace Ventura role
some stuff I'll share
first, if anyone cares, WKBW is the real channel 7 in Buffalo, Carrey used that because he grew up watching it according to recent interviews in the newspaper. http://www.wkbw.com/
the one sports report that they showed on the tv had the real sports reporter, John Murphy. thought it was nice that they put him in http://www.wkbw.com/personalities/bi...=John%20Murphy
I don't go downtown all that much so I'm not 100% on this, but I'm pretty sure that during the daytime scene with Carrey and Freeman when they're out on the water Canada should have been visible and not an endless horizon of water. I'd have to watch the movie again and take a drive downtown to recreate the angle
Buffalo has no channel 5
nice that they based it in Buffalo and did some exterior filming here, would have been nicer to do some actor filming here too
nice seeing Catherine Bell

MasterofDVD

I'm a big Carrey fan but felt the 3rd act of this film was a mess.

I'll probably invest in the DVD later on because I am a fan but it'll never be my favorite Carrey movie. The Truman Show still holds that spot.