Rating- * * * * (4/5)
As one of the earliest Jim Carrey fans, I so glad to see him do what the staunch critics said he would never do which is to solidify himself as one of the biggest comic actors of his time. As of now, it’s safe to say that Carrey might in fact be THE biggest, considering that his latest release Bruce Almighty took in a whopping $86 million in its first weekend quickly displacing the box office behemoth The Matrix Reloaded. Certainly, Bruce Almighty is more typical summer faire than the dark, philosophical brilliance of Reloaded but it certainly should not be dismissed as a bland comedy. It has one of the smartest screenplays for a comedy that I’ve seen in a while and most importantly it stays consistent in its style while taking bold and clever comic twists rather than relying on tired old comedy gags. The concept itself is rather funny to begin with; Bruce (Carrey) is an aspiring local news anchor who despite having Jennifer Aniston for a girlfriend believes that God is picking on him by allowing a number of bad things to develop, namely Bruce getting fired from his job and then getting beat up by a street gang on the way home. After a verbal tirade against God, Bruce gets a call to come down to a warehouse where he’s rather shocked to meet none other than the Big Man Himself (played by Morgan Freeman). God is rather upset with Bruce for his blasphemy and tells him if he thinks he can do a better job to go right ahead. God endows Bruce with all his powers and gives him dominion over the whole world (well, Buffalo at least) while God takes a vacation. The only stipulation: Bruce cannot interfere with free will. So conceptually the movie has a great starting point but as we all know, a good concept doesn’t carry a movie by itself. Whereas some would explore the obvious and most base of human compulsions to use God’s power, this movie gets right to the important stuff with only a few sidetracks, which are excusable since they are quite hilarious. Bruce quickly solves problems like toilet training his dog, jazzing up his car, getting his job back (in a very funny scene with Steve Correll of The Daily Show) and getting revenge on that street gang. Of course, what Bruce fails to realize, as most of us probably would too, is that being God is about more than just pleasing yourself. You have the lives and well-being of millions of people and how they live their lives will depend on how their prayers are answered. The script is about as good as you could ask for and the way the plot plays out is very funny and interesting but I doubt this film would work at all without Jim Carrey in the lead. Like every great leading man, Carrey has already developed a persona that audiences are familiar with so when we see him behaving crazy all of a sudden, we know that it’s just part of his character. He has also shown us in the past that he has an amazing range as an actor (namely in films like The Truman Show and The Majestic) and can be genuine and sympathetic as well as hilarious and outrageous. Without Carrey, Bruce would be a rather dull guy and a character that we probably wouldn’t particularly care about that much. Similarly, I doubt that the characters of the girlfriend or God would have been as interesting to watch as they are without their respective actors. Jennifer Aniston has already established herself as a capable comedy actress and will without a doubt have a successful Hollywood career once she finishes that dreadful television show. Perhaps most impressive is Morgan Freeman playing the most difficult character imaginable, God. There is such a small window in which this character can be played since you are almost sure to be either offensive or cheesy is you go too far in either direction. To put God in a comedy you have to show that He is clearly the smartest guy in the movie and knows infinitely more than He lets on and also that everything He does is out of love and in everyone’s best interest. Freeman is pitch perfect here and continues his string of consistently great work. Of course, none of these things matter if the movie is not funny and by funny I do mean making people laugh. This movie will make you laugh no matter who you are and it does it without having to be gross or talk about sex. What? A movie that makes you laugh without showing some guy have sex with a pie? Believe it kids. I guarantee you will laugh at this movie and thanks to Jim Carrey and the rest of the great cast you also won’t ever think it’s cheesy. Bruce Almighty is a great summer comedy and is definitely worth adding to your list of movies to see this summer.