“Bruce Almighty” marks a return to mainstream comedy by Jim Carrey after attempting to branch out into other genres for the last few years. The film has a premise that has a lot of potential, and although it turns into a somewhat predictable tale about learning lessons and bettering oneself, it has a nice feel to it that left me in a good mood.
Almost a decade ago, Jim Carrey was the man. Before the comic reigns of Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson and Will Ferril, Carrey was unstoppable. In the span of a few years he went from the white guy on “In Living Color” to the star of the all-time cinematic comedy classics “Ace Ventura” and “Dumb and Dumber.” Craving more “serious” roles, Carrey attempted to branch out in films like “The Majestic” and the overrated “Man in the Moon” with mixed results. It was tough for a man as energetic as Carrey to restrain himself.
In “Almighty,” Carrey plays Bruce Nolan, a second-rate reporter for Buffalo’s Channel 7 Eyewitness News. Recently, Bruce has been down on his luck. And, on one particularly bad day, when he loses his job, is beaten up by thugs, and crashes his car, he goes berserk and launches a spirited tirade at God, who promptly invites him to visit for a chat. God turns out to be Morgan Freeman, and he decides that he’s going to give Bruce all of his powers while he goes on vacation.
So self-centered Bruce uses his newfound powers to get an evening news anchor’s job, settle a few scores, set the mood for romance with his girlfriend, Grace (Jennifer Aniston), and generally make life easier.
While being God makes him a better newsman, (when things are dull, he simply conjures up events), it doesn’t necessarily make him a better person. Grace doesn’t like the new Bruce as much as the old one, and they start drifting apart.
Meanwhile, Bruce is buried under the workload of being the acting God. He can’t sleep at night because of the prayers from people wanting everything from a winning lottery ticket to a miracle cure for cancer. Adding to his dismay is the discovery that everything in the world is interconnected: granting one person’s prayer can cause trouble for someone else.
The film has a great premise. It seems that a hundred good plots could have been written with this backstory, anything from a straight comedy to a tragedy, with various stops in between. What does Bruce do with his great powers? Use a gust of wind to flip up a woman’s skirt, pull the moon closer to Earth, and move aside traffic. No stopping time. No visiting other planets. It could have gone further. The film is very much on the surface in this respect.
To say that “Bruce Almighty” is content to follow the well-trodden path of mindless comedies does not mean that it doesn’t work. After all, the scene in which Bruce embarrasses a TV anchor is one of the year’s best (up there with the Will Ferril tranquilizer scene from “Old School”). 
Bruce’s fall from grace isn’t nearly as enjoyable or amusing as the fun he has smiting his enemies and turning water into wine and making monkeys come out of the orifices of street thugs. The ending seems to pay tribute to Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” and although it is predictable, it also has a nice feel to it.
Much like the recent “Anger Management,” the film is aided by two charismatic stars. Jim Carrey brings a great presence to the film and we appreciate receiving his comic gifts after he held them back from us for several years.
Smooth and stately Morgan Freeman dons the white suit as a deity who is benevolent but a little on the impish side. It’s the best representations of God since George Burns took on the assignment in “Oh, God!” Freeman has an aura of calm, wise, all-knowing attitude and seems to have fun with the role.
I would urge anyone who sees the film to check out the far superior “Groundhog Day” with Bill Murray. That movie explored similar themes of meaning and appreciating life, but with much more creativity and depth. It had an ending that, although was very similar, proved to be much more satisfying.
THE FINAL THOUGHT: “Bruce Almighty” is a nice feeling comedy that has some very funny moments. It may not break new ground but Freeman and Carrey make this an enjoyable two hours. One can’t help think that this could have been a better movie with a shot of creativity and edge, but sometimes playing it safe is good enough. (B to B-)

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