Bruce Almighty (2003)

Starring Jim Carrey, Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Aniston, Philip Baker Hall.
Directed by Tom Shadyac.
Written by Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe, Steve Oedekerk.
Produced by Michael Bostick, James D. Brubaker, Tom Shadyac, Jim Carrey.
Distributed by Universal Pictures.
101 minutes.

LVJeff's Rating: 6/10

Lord of Small Things

What if you had all the powers of God? What would you do for yourself? Aren't the possibilities endless? Do we get to see what happens when someone exploits these possibilities in Bruce Almighty? Well, kind of.

The latest Jim Carrey-starrer gives the flailing funnyman the ultimate premise. Instead of turning into a cartoon character or being forced to tell the truth, Carrey is given the power to do pretty much anything. His character, down-and-out Buffalo television news reporter Bruce, is having the worst day of his life because the career position he covets has been stolen out from under his nose. Angry at God for what he feels is an indifference toward his life, Bruce is summoned by The Almighty One (Morgan Freeman) Himself. God then grants Bruce His powers -- to see if Bruce can run his life better than God can. The only caveat -- he can't affect anyone's free will.

Bruce Almighty is having the most fun when Bruce is testing out his powers. After he gains full confidence in using them, what will he do next? Give himself a big house and a gazillion dollars? Rule a small country? No, he just pretty much wants that career position he lost a little while ago. So as he gets down to business creating exclusive stories for himself to cover (e.g. a giant meteorite crashes into the ground behind him while he's covering some mundane cook-off), his loving girlfriend (Jennifer Aniston) is left by the wayside. Will Bruce learn what's really important in his life?

Yup, as it turns out, Bruce Almighty is another variant on It's a Wonderful Life, one of those stories where something magical occurs to make the protagonist see what's good in his life. God's powers are really little more than a device -- all the power in the world can't make you happy if you're selfish. That's a nice message, but we've got God's powers here -- couldn't we capitalize on them just a little more? The movie puts itself in a quandary: given a premise with limitless potential, whatever story it comes up with will undoubtedly feel limited. The magical intervention device for this film is too broad for a plot so small in scope.

Still, Carrey makes the most of it. The man's gift for comedy is on full display here, which means his fans will have a good time. Bruce Almighty is content to be a goofy crowd-pleaser, which is all right, I suppose, yet strange. After all, if you have the powers of God to play with, you'd expect to have a little more ambition.

©Jeffrey Chen, May 25, 2003

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