Bruce Almighty (2003)
This one goes to seven!
Starring: |
Jim Carrey |
Released By: |
Universal |
Released In: |
2003 |
Rated: |
PG-13 |
Reviewed By: |
Adam Mast |
Grade: |
B- |
Through the past few years, Jim Carrey has proven that he can do much more than talk with his ass. He's shown that he does have some dramatic depth in movies like the creative The Truman Show and the Capraesque The Majestic. My personal favorite Carrey performance was in Milos Foreman's Andy Kaufman bio-pic Man on the Moon. With the his new movie Bruce Almighty, Carrey returns to the world of easy laughs.
In the comedy, Carrey is hapless TV reporter Bruce Nolan. Tired of being stepped on, Bruce slips into a funk in which he decides God is to blame for every little thing that goes wrong in his life. Well, it turns out that God (a subtle and sweet natured Morgan Freeman) is listening and decides to give Bruce a taste of what it's like to be the almighty. He bestows upon the reporter his unlimited power, and advises that with the power comes certain responsibilities. Of course, this is a Jim Carrey vehicle, so it isn't surprising that his Bruce Nolan abuses this power, using it to do things like make his girlfriend's breasts bigger.
In all honesty, Bruce Almighty isn't the raunch-fest I was expecting. Sure, it has the occasional monkey-flying-out-of-my-ass joke, but for the most part, it's fairly tame, especially when held up against past Carrey pictures (see Ace Ventura or Dumb and Dumber). Instead, Bruce Almighty turns into a feel good movie in which Carrey realizes what the audience has figured out from frame one; maybe his life isn't all that bad.
As I stated, Carrey has come a long way as an actor garnering much respect from his fans and peers. In Bruce Almighty, he not only shows off his impeccable sense of comic timing, but demonstrates that he can be quite earnest even if this particular screenplay is quite manipulative and overly sentimental. Aniston appears in what could have been an incredibly thankless role, but she lends a warmth and sweetness to the part that makes it feel important. Freeman is one of the classiest performers around, and he brings much humanity to his role as God. His small touches of subtle humor are also welcome, and it's obvious that Freeman took a cue from another great performer who once played God, the legendary George Burns.
Bruce Almighty was directed in obvious fashion by Tom Shadyac. The entire movie is played very safe. This is to say that the picture is very predictable and many of the gags are telegraphed. Still, I can't deny that there were moments in this movie where I got that warm and fuzzy feeling inside. And given that Shadyac was responsible for the ridiculously fake, and nauseating Patch Adams, as well as the less than intriguing Dragonfly, this really took me by surprise.
Bruce Almighty isn't perfect comedy, but I'll take it over Bringing Down the House any day of the week. With it's charming cast and simplistic approach, it works as summer Hollywood fluff. If you want something with a little more bite and originality, go check out A Mighty Wind.
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