Bruce Almighty

Ever had one of those days? Ever wanted to take your grievances to God, personally? Bruce Nolan (Jim Carrey), a disgruntled TV news reporter, gets the chance to do just that in this romantic comedy from the team that brought you Ace Ventura, Pet Detective.

Bruce just doesn't get the plum news assignments and then rival Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) is promoted to the prestigious anchor position. Bruce's increasing frustration also begins to alienate his live-in girlfriend Grace (Jennifer Aniston), until after one particularly humiliatingly awful day, Bruce calls on the Almighty for help.

God (Morgan Freeman), who just wants to enjoy a few days off sightseeing, obligingly decides to help out and hands over his "powers" to the skeptical Bruce.

Irresistible, if obvious, premise allows Jim Carrey to do his thing, which he does very well. The gags, if thin on the ground, are hysterically funny. Bruce's revenge on upstart Evan Baxter is a comic tour de force by Steve Carell. Carell is a regular dead pan comic highlight of Daily Show With Jon Stewart in the USA, and here he steals every scene he's in from the lead.

The downside is that for all the funny one has to put up with an inordinate amount of cloying sweetness and a "big message" plus a particularly glutinous music score from John Debney. Director Shadyac is also responsible for the Robin Williams vehicle Patch Adams and we're in similar territory here. The last 1/2 hour is very hard to sit still through, but redeemed slightly by comic outtakes running through the end credits.

Carrey is good, Jennifer Aniston is winning in a thankless role, Carell is a showstopper, Freeman is way too obvious, where's Marianne Faithful when you need her?

Blasphemous? No way, this is a pro-God movie down the line, although occasional naughty words may upset some. Incidentally, this film has proved more popular than The Matrix Reloaded, at the US box office, who'd have guessed?

I came, I saw, I laughed, I squirmed an awful lot.