I finally got around to seeing Bruce Almighty last night with some friends of mine. To be honest I avoided it when it was in the theaters due to the fact that I’ve been getting tired of Jim Carrey. But being a Friday night without much else to do, and feeling tired, we decided to pick up the DVD and give it a try. I’m glad we did!
Most of you get the idea of the plot. A disgruntled news reported (Carrey) gets angry with God for all the problems in his life. Fed up with his whining, God (Morgan Freeman) decides to endow Bruce with all his powers (only over Buffalo) to let Bruce see if he could do any better.
However, God gives Bruce 2 rules that he must abide by, the most important of which is that he cannot interfere with anyone’s free will. Throughout the film Bruce attempts to make everyone happy, but discovers that in doing so he creates complications that have terrible consequences around the world and ultimately horrible rioting in Buffalo itself.
Bruce Almighty manages to be sharp, witty and a touch edgy while always remaining respectful of the films subject matter (God). The movie exposes the self contradiction we as humans beings (whether Atheist, Agnostic, Christian or otherwise) have always placed oursevels in over the ages: We would consider God to be evil and tyrannical if he interfered with humanity’s free will, and yet we blame him when humanity uses its free will to nasty things to each other. Always looking to blame God, and never looking to ourselves. Perplexed by this problem Bruce asks God “How do you get people to love without manipulating their free will?”.
But much more than being an interesting and slightly insightful movie, Bruce Almighty is a very good comedy. Many laughs along the way. And by the way, if you do rent the DVD, make sure you check out the deleted scenes!
