Cheap Bruce Almighty (Widescreen Edition) (DVD) (Jim Carrey, Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Aniston) (Tom Shadyac) Price

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Customer Reviews of Bruce Almighty (Widescreen Edition)

Sets its sights pretty low, but it does hit its mark.
"Bruce Almighty" suffers from a surprising lack of ambition and creativity -- it's rare that a comedy about a man bestowed with God-like powers would stoop to segments as dumb as teaching one's dog to pee into a toilet, but there you have it. The opposite of outrageous, the movie actually strives to be humble: Were a human allowed to be God, they'd fix their own lives first, the world later, and, in the end, just plain stink at the job and admit defeat. It's a sweet sentiment, but not the kind of thing you'd figure to see in a Jim Carrey extravaganza.

Carrey is pretty bizarre as Buffalo TV reporter Bruce Nolan -- the performance is so self-aware and mugging you get the sense that Carrey's madness over being consigned again to cheap comedy after the weighty, overrated fare of "Man On the Moon" and "The Majestic" is just barely concealed under the surface. Nolan has a cool girlfriend (Jennifer Aniston, content to stand aside and say "Ole!") and a reasonable features reporter job at a good station, but he wants more: The anchor slot, and, in the subtext, the female anchor herself (Catherine Bell in bigtime, hotcha vamp).

Nolan loses the job to a creep (Steven Carell), learns about it just as he's about to go on the air and melts down in front of Buffalo. Carrey, as in the other "rage" scenes, is so convincing you wonder what this tortured man's nights must be like. Predictable chaos ensues after the meltdown, Nolan decides, pretty much out of the blue, to curse God for his ugly fate, upon which God, played by Morgan Freeman in a white suit, reveals himself, and charges Bruce with the almightyness of one Buffalo neighborhood. Bruce, shall we say, prefers party tricks and selfish perks to the more spiritual aspects of the vocation. Eventually, of course, he sees the light, accepts his limitations in life, and does President George W. Bush proud: He decides to settle for his small life, doing good, small deeds, leaving Important Things to Important People. "Bruce Almighty" is nearly a parable arguing classism.

Some of Bruce's vengeance pays off with laughs, the best being an eye-watering bit where he ruins the new creepy anchor career with gibberish and phony tele-prompter cues. But most of it is obvious and lame, and Carrey's longtime directorial collaborator Tom Shadyac (thrilled, I'm sure, to be back with Carrey after bombs with Robin Williams and Kevin Costner respectively) certainly brings no original flair to the table. Carrey dreamt up a few verbal riffs for the film and neither "it's good, it's good, it's good" nor "B-E-A-Utiful" stand to make the bible of pop culture mimicry. Aniston is wasted in the teary-eyed, poor suffering saint role, while Philip Baker Hall must have needed some fast cash to park his grizzled mug in a movie like this.

Freeman is...nice; he actually gets Carrey to pay attention during their scenes together. Otherwise, Carrey is unleashed with all the fury that he bottled in during his recent drama stints. Problem is, the screenplays leaves him nowhere to go. It's entirely ordinary, even moralistic. If Jim Carrey's going to be God -- and you only get to be God once, pretty much -- might as well put some bang into it.

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Delightful material!!
This movie is vintage Jim Carrey!! I laughed at almost every scene. The screenplay was structured properly and the roles were more on-point than any comedy I have ever seen. Carrey's hits include "The Mask," "Ace Ventura," "Liar, Liar," and it seems like we're use to all the lovable characters that he creates. There is no other comic that has the ability to bring joy out of you, make you laugh out loud, and make you cry all in the same instance.
One thing that will grip you is how the plot leaves you intrigued. Carrey plays the highly-spirited Bruce Nolan, a newscaster who gives the people the "lighter side" of news. Everyone appreciates his moral demeanor, except for himself. He has a promising relationship with his wife-to-be, Grace (played by Jennifer Aniston) and what keeps their relationship strong is how firmly she believes in him and has great faith in God. While Grace is spiritually motivated, Bruce feels as if God is "picking on him" because he wants the anchor job that his nemesis, Evan (played by Steve Carell) is picked to get. So when Evan gets the job, Bruce loses it during a "live" session and is fired from his job. He often seeks God (played by Morgan Freeman) to give him a sign and finally encounters Him. So in order to get what he wants from God, He endows Bruce with his powers to see if He can help others as well as himself any better. This movie is basically a testimony for those who have finally found a revelation and a relationship with God in the midst of their tattered life. You can also pray so much where you only want God to always meet your needs. God helps everyone.
Bruce finally realizes that he must be able to forgive and put others first before himself when he and Grace briefly separate and he almost loses his life. This a delightful tale and every scene is pretty much a riot. From the Latin thugs in the alley with the monkey, to the gibberish-talking Evan scene, Bruce Almighty is a heaven-sent comedy for the ages.

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Not funny
Bruce Almighty is supposed to be funny, but Carrey doesnt delivers. Carrey's juvenile humor has gotten old, and this movie is no exception. The movie is better for its humanity, than for its comedy.