Bruce Almighty (2003)

A guy who complains about God too often is given almighty powers to teach him how difficult it is to run the world.

Director:

Tom Shadyac

Writers:

Steve Koren (story), Mark O'Keefe (story),

Stars:

Jim Carrey, Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Aniston

7 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jim Carrey	...	Bruce Nolan
Morgan Freeman	...	God
Jennifer Aniston	...	Grace Connelly
Philip Baker Hall	...	Jack Baylor
Catherine Bell	...	Susan Ortega
Lisa Ann Walter	...	Debbie
Steve Carell	...	Evan Baxter (as Steven Carell)
Nora Dunn	...	Ally Loman
Eddie Jemison	...	Bobby
Paul Satterfield	...	Dallas Coleman
Mark Kiely	...	Fred Donohue
Sally Kirkland	...	Anita
Tony Bennett	...	Himself
Timothy Di Pri	...	Bruce's Cameraman (as Timothy DiPri)
Brian Tahash	...	Bruce's Soundman

Storyline

Bruce Nolan, a television reporter in Buffalo, N.Y., is discontented with almost everything in life despite his popularity and the love of his girlfriend Grace . At the end of the worst day of his life, Bruce angrily ridicules and rages against God and God responds. God appears in human form and, endowing Bruce with divine powers, challenges Bruce to take on the big job to see if he can do it any better.

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Plot Keywords:

reporter | prayer | responsibility | deal | eating paste | 

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Taglines:

In Bruce We Trust?

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language, sexual content and some crude humor

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Universal Pictures (us)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 May 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Bruce Allmächtig

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$81,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$420,203 (Japan) (19 December 2003)

Gross:

$3,408,154 (Japan) (16 January 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Spyglass Entertainment, Universal Pictures, Shady Acres Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mark O'Keefe and Steve Koren's original screenplay was a spec script which was instantly snapped up by Universal.

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Goofs

The Stanley Cup prop looks nothing like the real Stanley Cup.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Bruce: God, why do you hate me?

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Crazy Credits

There are several outtakes and goofs from the movie during the ending credits.

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Connections

References Bedazzled (2000)

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Soundtracks

"Don't Know Much"
Written by Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Tom Snow
Performed by Linda Ronstadt, Aaron Neville
Courtesy of Elektra Entertainment Group
By Arrangement with Warner Strategic Marketing

User Reviews

What if God was one of us? It would be pretty funny.

I really do not know what people have against this film, but it's definitely one of my favourites. It's not preachy, it's not anchored by it's moral, it shouldn't be controversial. It's just God. Any possible God, no matter the religion. And it's really funny.

Jim Carry plays Bruce Nolan, a TV reporter usually stuck on the lighter side of the news, desperate to prove himself (more or less TO himself) that he can be taken seriously and do a good job in an anchor job. This drive is what is slowly driving his beautiful girlfriend Grace (Jennifer Aniston) away. When the final straws are executed, he's quick to not laugh, but yell in the face of God, who in turn gives Bruce his powers. Bruce then makes his life better for himself, until he's guilted into helping others, where he then continues to miss the point of his powers. Meanwhile, his constant excitement about his own life makes him more selfish, leaving his relationship on dangerous ground.

OK, that was kinda long. But as a plot, it works well. The step-by-step fashion in which we meet the challenges of being God is much better than clustering his problems together, and is able to hide itself fairly well.

As you probably know from hearing about this movie in the first place, Carrey's pitch-perfect acting stays in character (which, luckily enough, is him), and controls and gives atmosphere to the movie scene by scene. Whether they would admit it or not, the role was written or rewritten exclusively for Carrey. Without him, the humour would turn flat, as humour is half execution. And the humour is very good in the first place. But without Carrey, it would kinda feel like a It's a Wonderful Life wannabe.

Jennifer Aniston is great and, no matter what some may say, does not act like the only excuse for the third act. At least, you don't think that when you see her. She gives a heartfelt performance and makes you forget you're watching a movie, she and Carrey feel very much like a real couple.

The movie feels ggooooodd (see the movie to understand), has a very nice feeling, tackles the idea appropriately and better than expected and overall should never have been called slapped together just to save Carrey's career (which wasn't goin' anywhere.).