Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14591 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-08-06
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 97 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Bestowing Jim Carrey with godlike powers is a ripe recipe for comedy, and Bruce Almighty delivers the laughs that Carrey's mainstream fans prefer. The high-concept premise finds Carrey playing Bruce Nolan, a frustrated Buffalo TV reporter, stuck doing puff-pieces while a lesser colleague (the hilarious Steven Carell) gets the anchor job he covets. Bruce demands an explanation from God, who pays him a visit (in the serene form of Morgan Freeman) and lets Bruce take over while he takes a brief vacation. What does a petty, angry guy do when he's God? That's where Carrey has a field day, reuniting with his Ace Ventura and Liar, Liar director, Tom Shadyac, while Jennifer Aniston gamely keeps pace as Bruce's put-upon fiancée. Carrey's actually funnier before he becomes Him, and the movie delivers a sappy, safely diluted notion of faith that lacks the sincerity of the 1977 hit Oh, God! Still, we can be thankful that Carrey took the high road and left Little Nicky to Adam Sandler. --Jeff Shannon

Synopsis
Jim Carrey returns to his zany, manic roots in this Capra-esque comedy from director Tom Shadyac (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Liar, Liar). Carrey stars as Bruce Nolan, a television reporter in Buffalo, New York who lives a normal life with his sweet girlfriend Grace (Jennifer Aniston). But Bruce isn't satisfied, and after a particularly bad day where everything goes wrong, he blames God. After spewing a tirade of curses God's way, God (Morgan Freeman in a gentlemanly white suit) responds and challenges Bruce to take over and see if he can run things better. Of course, there are some conditions; Bruce can only have the "almighty" powers for 24 hours and only in the Buffalo area. This doesn't stop Bruce, and he responds to his newfound powers with selfish, childlike zeal. Like a kid in a sweet shop, Bruce sets off making one hysterical, yet disastrous, decision after another. He pulls the moon closer to the earth so he can have a more romantic evening with Grace, unaware that his actions cause a tidal wave in Japan and responds to the prayers of the world with a mass-email "yes" that creates millions of lottery winners, riots, and mayhem. Ultimately, Bruce proves he is only human, and cannot possibly fill God's shoes, although he has a great time trying.

Customer Reviews

God Is Black? No, He's Morgan Freeman.
I remember when I first watched Bruce Almighty about 3 years ago and I absolutely hated it. The way people raved on about how funny it was just didn't fly with me at all, I labelled it one of Carreys worst films and vowed never to watch it again. Fast forward 3 years and I'm in a New York hotel room, forced to stay in thanks to the blistering cold, and what's on TV? Why Bruce Almighty, thanks for asking. I decide to cancel that vow and just watch it again for good measure to cement my previous hatred. I was wrong, there I said it, I... Was... Wrong. It's difficult to say yes, but upon seeing this for the second time, for some unknown reason I absolutely loved it and have wondered since why I hated it so.

Jim Carrey plays Bruce, a small time news reporter known and loved for his comedic and light hearted persona which is ironically holding him back in his career. Nothing ever seems to go right for Bruce and he's constantly complaining that God has forgotten about him and is dealing him the wrong hand. After a day in which his arch rival Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) steals Bruce's desired job as news anchor, he goes nuts and gets himself fired from the station. That night Bruce argues with his girlfriend Grace (Jennifer Aniston) and leave the apartment leading to a crash. Upon getting out the car he gets a page with an address on it. The next day he visits the address and is confronted by a Janitor in the guise of Morgan Freeman. This janitor claims he is god and is going to take a break leaving Bruce in charge to see if he can do a better job. Over the course of the film, Bruce uses his newly obtained powers to get back at those who wronged him and fixes his life. He soon forgets, however, that he's now god so he must take care of everybodies wishes.

This film isn't the funniest in the world and seems to at times quite a religiously propagandist film. Although it doesn't point towards one particular religion, it's obviously a film promoting the existence of god and blind faith. It is that of a very emotional film more than anything and talks about love and loyalty to the one you love. It also puts out there the idea of creating your own destiny and not waiting for something to be given to you. Some of the scenes are quite ridiculous and you would have thought that a man with godly powers would have done more than give himself a flash car. Although the comedy isn't really that immediately in your face, when it does appear it certainly succeeds in giving you a wealthy chuckle. One scene in particular is when Bruce is back in his job and is behind the scenes during one of Evans news casts. Bruce uses his godly powers and has Evan mess up his entire delivery costing the man his job. The acting by Carell in this scene is hysterical and had me in tears of laughter, the awkward look on the face mixed with the silliness of his news delivery is perfect.

Jennifer Aniston also gives us an excellent performance and backs up my belief that the woman is a highly underrated actress long overdue of that one big movie. I'm sure it will come eventually, but for now we're just going to have to get the treat of her in the rare great roles. Jim Carrey and Steve Carell also play such great roles, with Jim obviously delivering some great acting once again. Morgan Freeman, I think it has to be said that it was a worthy choice for the role of God as Freeman becomes the first African American actor to play both the President of the USA and God himself. The actors and story blend together perfectly with it seeming that the roles were specifically written for the particular actors in mind.

An awesome film that even if you didn't enjoy it the first time, you certainly will the second time around.