Bruce Almighty 2003

D

Somehow I remember people saying this was a funny movie (I know, it’s been a while). Yow. This thing was horrible. You’d have to be a major fan of Jim Carrey and even then it pales next to Ace Ventura or even Liar, Liar. It’s like someone trying to be Jim Carrey who isn’t very good at it except that it really is him. Morgan Freeman as God is maybe the only bright spot, but even he can’t come close to the low-key God played by George Burns. Daily Show contributor Steve Carell as a more adept conniving anchorman has a very good small part especially as he is manipulated by the all-powerful Carrey into flubbing his lines. But then Jennifer Aniston is completely wasted in a role where she likes Jim Carrey’s character for no knowable reason (is it Carrey’s very tight pants and open shirt that would be at home in the 70s?). Carrey is so awful as a news reporter that it would be hard for us to believe he could get a job on local access television, let alone a station in Buffalo, New York.

There is a nice message here, used way too often in other movies, that you shouldn’t be a selfish jerk. But just by following that you’re supposed to wind up with Jennifer Aniston?

Mostly this movie suffers from horrible writing. But very little else appeals either.

I’ll give this one a D.