Posted: 05/24/2003

Bruce Almighty

(2003)

by Hank Yuloff

The “Warnings” didn’t lie. Bruce Almighty is a very fun movie. Several months ago, we began to see those trailers promoting the new Jim Carrey movie that opens this Memorial Day weekend. They showed a regular guy who gets to play God. The question left unanswered: will he use the power for good or for evil? And more importantly—are we seeing all of the good stuff in the 90-seconds of promotional time.

Carrey plays Bruce Nolan, a puff-piece television reporter in Buffalo, New York. Not exactly a top 25 market. That’s the problem, as he perceives it: If he can not be the at the anchor desk in this little town, how can he get somewhere else to make his career bigger. Not that he’s bad at his job- he seems to be a very popular guy with a flair for the human interest stories. Guess the song lyrics, “You never know what you got ‘till its gone,” come to mind.

We are witness to his frailties, most notably a monster size ego. An argument with his girlfriend (Jennifer Aniston from The Good Girl, Rock Star) causes him to focus his lack of advancement outward on the Big Guy, instead on self-reflection. I guess it gets to be a bit of annoyance to God, who calls Bruce in for a performance review. As a reward (or penalty?), Bruce is given a shot at doing the Lord’s job better, if he can. What is Bruce’s next move? See the movie for the funny results. Carrey (The Truman Show, Me, Myself, & Irene) is wonderful. There is a great mix of the slapstick moves, sarcastic humor and self-deprecating material for him to shine. He is a natural for this type of role. It was perfect casting.

Morgan Freeman (Dreamcatcher, Driving Miss Daisy, Se7en) plays the role of God. He’s a pretty good God. He does the all-knowing, all-powerful thing very well. I wouldn’t mind saying a few prayers to the guy myself! Writers Steve Koren and Mark O’Keefe didn’t delve too deeply on the possibilities of what God can or cannot do, but chose to show him more as a caretaker or as a hobbyist playing with something he built in his garage. His costumer didn’t help him though. For many scenes, they put him in a NY Yankee cap. That denotes a vengeful, spiteful God. Should have been a Boston Red Sox cap: that would show compassion with a sense of humor. I did some thinking as to whom else would have been good in the role. My thoughts ran to James Woods or Christopher Walken or James Earl Jones. Freeman seems to be one of those actors that they could have sent a script to and just knew he would nail the part. He’s about as automatic as an actor can get.

The movie came with a PG-13 label, which surprised me once we got into the story. The language is definitely harsh in many places, so be warned if you bring the little tykes to see the same guy who played the Grinch. To director Tom Shadyac’s credit, what he didn’t do was take the obvious low road of Carrey heading right for the nearest women’s locker room. Instead, he just takes a quick shot at a passerby’s skirt. You will not be disappointed if you are looking for an ultimately positive message. Bruce will find what he needs. And, as a moviegoer, you will, too.

Hank Yuloff is not our only writer in Los Angeles without a God Complex, but if he got a chance at the powers, he knows that making the [Boston Red] Sox World Champs and getting our editor in chief a great job…. in LA … would be OK ideas.

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