Oh, God! 1977
I remember Oh, God! being a pretty big movie when it came out. It is a great concept for a movie. John Denver's popularity was at its peak at the time probably, and I wondered if his performance would hold up. Surprisingly, it does. While it is a fun role, comedy is never as easy as it looks, and he delivers. The big draw, though, is George Burns, who is perfect as a wisecracking, all-knowing God. It is not real clear why God feels a need to get involved with humans at this point in time, but it is a fun idea. There are also some nice supporting roles including Teri Garr as Denver's wife and Paul Sorvino as a smarmy televangelist. As familiar as I was with that character and later on with Paul Sorvino, even watching it again I did not recognize Sorvino with him playing so off his usual type. George Furth also turns in a great bit as an incredulous newspaper editor. The movie uses the setup to get in some nice commentary on faith and religion, which seemed to fit in nicely with a lot of what I was thinking at the time. Larry Gelbart did a nice job with the script and Carl Reiner directed, so it's really no wonder it turned out as well as it did. It is still ultimately a little simplistic. The court case at the end seems to come together awfully quickly and over something very unlikely (slander of a public figure). Still, it is a great chance to see a legendary personality like George Burns and a nice one-off performance by John Denver.
Written: 17 Mar 2024
Owned on: Digital