"Where Movie Critics Get A Taste Of Their Own Medicine"
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Is "Bruce Almighty" too powerful
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CRITIC DOCTOR EXAMINES: Jeffrey Anderson (San Francisco Examiner), Peter Sobczynski (Liberty Suburban Chicago Newspapers), Mr Cranky (mrcranky.com), Neil Cavuto (foxnews.com), Jan Stuart (Newsday), Phil Boatwright (moviereporter.com), Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times), Mark Caro (Chicago Tribune), Christopher Null (filmcritic.com), Rick Kisonak (filmthreat.com), Holly McClure (crosswalk.com)
One of the many funny scenes in "Bruce Almighty" involves a live monkey coming out of a man's butt. After reading the critical commentary on this movie, I'm thinking some film reviews came from this same place.
"Bruce Almighty" is a movie about Bruce Nolan (Jim Carrey), a popular New York television reporter who doesn't appreciate his loving girlfriend (Jennifer Aniston) and feels his career is going nowhere. After going through a personal day of hell, Bruce is fed up and curses God out loud for his mundane life. God (Morgan Freeman) appears before Bruce and offers to temporarily give him divine powers to take his place (since Bruce thinks God's job is so easy). When Bruce becomes the Almighty, the movie explodes with hilarious scenes! Its positive, spiritual message, however, didn't impress some critics.
Jeffrey Anderson (San Francisco Examiner) said the film "collapses into a pile of sentimental pudding." Peter Sobczynski (Liberty Suburban Chicago Newspapers) calls it "icky sentiment" and Mr Cranky (mrcranky.com) said the director "beats the audience senseless with the kind of moralistic guano one might associate with a Jimmy Swaggart revival."
Uh, guys? Isn't this a movie about a man who actually meets God and is given divine powers? Common-sense tells me there would be - and should be - a sentimental, spiritual theme to this story. What's wrong with that?
Neil Cavuto (foxnews.com) complained about similar movie critics during his "Your World" TV show on FOX and said, "It's a big flop with some critics and you won't believe why. They claim the movie's ending is too preachy, too religious, too goody-goody." Cavuto goes on to quote Jan Stuart (Newsday) who wrote, "Unfortunately, religious fervor moves in and sinks the last 20 minutes."
Cavuto responded, "I watched this movie and that was the best 20 minutes of the movie!" I agree with Cavuto. Bruce learns important life lessons and his character evolves nicely from start to finish. The positive, spiritual message matches the movie perfectly in terms of character and plot.
Phil Boatwright (moviereporter.com) said the film "presents several messages aimed at reminding a movie-going audience that God exists, that each and every one of his creations is a miracle, that we are to be miracles for one another, that we should appreciate what we have, and that the true power, God's love, is in us when we determine to turn our lives over to him."
The moment I heard Morgan Freeman was going to play God, I knew this film was on the right track. However, Peter Sobczynski said, "And even though Morgan Freeman seems to be game for anything here…the filmmakers have forgotten to give God anything particularly interesting to say or do."
Are you kidding, Peter? Freeman is the perfect God - and he had significant things to say such as, "You want to see a miracle, be a miracle" or "A teenager who says no to drugs and yes to an education - that's a miracle." It all boils down to us loving one another and miracles will manifest as result of that love. That's not important? Of course, God has humorous things to say as well such as when he asks Bruce to give a true, from-the-heart prayer. Bruce mumbles something about feeding the hungry and world peace, etc. "Good answer," God says, "for a Miss America contestant."
Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times) got it right: "Freeman plays God with a quality of warm detachment that is just about right, I think. You get the feeling that even while he's giving Bruce the free ride, he has a hand on the wheel, like a drivers' training instructor."
Bruce certainly takes advantage of his "free ride." Carrey is absolutely hilarious as the temporary Almighty, although his Bruce uses his powers for selfish reasons like performing better in bed, manipulating events to further his career, making his dog pee in the toilet, driving a fancy sports car, enlarging the breasts of his girlfriend, etc.
The funniest scene in the whole movie is when Bruce makes a rival TV reporter talk gibberish during a live news broadcast. I was laughing so hard, tears streamed down my face and I about choked on my popcorn! (Note to self: Do not eat popcorn or drink pop during funny moments in a Jim Carrey movie).
Mark Caro (Chicago Tribune) complains, "It's not enough for Bruce to give a rival anchorman (Steve Carell of "The Daily Show") a case of mushmouth. Shadyac must keep cutting back to Carrey's mimicry of the stricken newscaster, as if the spell wouldn't work without Bruce acting it out himself -- or as if viewers couldn't survive without second-by-second reminders that Carrey is the main funnyman here."
No way, Mark! When the camera cuts back and forth from Carrey to Carell, it made the scene THAT MUCH MORE FUNNY. Carrey's inclusion here amplified my convulsions. Christopher Null (filmcritic.com) had a similar experience: "These 120 seconds of footage had me doubled over with laughter so severely I literally had to wipe my face with my sleeve, the tears were so bad. It was so funny I seriously thought I was going to fall out of my chair."
If anything hurt the humor in this movie, it was the movie trailer. Rick Kisonak (filmthreat.com) said, "Universal's TV ads and trailers gave away every plot point of consequence and showed you virtually every funny moment in the film…If Hollywood had existed when he was writing the Divine Comedy, Dante surely would've reserved a circle in Hell for the marketing execs who keep doing this to the public."
Holly McClure (crosswalk.com) summed the movie up best: "This is a movie that offers moments of laughter and an entertaining story, but it will leave you thinking about the spiritual elements long after you've left the theater. And that's the beauty of this story. Imagine going to a Jim Carrey movie to get a good laugh and walking away with a life-changing message!"
Believe it or not, that's hard for some critics to imagine.
Regardless, go see "Bruce Almighty." It's B-E-A-Utiful!
-- CRITIC DOCTOR
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BRUCE ALMIGHTY (2003) Universal Pictures presents a film directed by Tom Shadyac. Written by Steve Oedekerk, Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe. Bruce Nolan: Jim Carrey, Grace: Jennifer Aniston, God: Morgan Freeman, Hood: Mark Adair-Rios, Susan: Catherine Bell, Waitress: Sally Kirkland, Debbie: Lisa Ann Walter, Jack Keller: Philip Baker Hall, Evan: Steven Carell. Running time: 101 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for language, sexual content and some crude humor).
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