"Bruce Almighty" Talkback (Spoilers)

[Jimmy Kustes]

In Bruce We Trust?
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005JLZX.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
"I am Bruce Almighty! My will be done." - Bruce Nolan

Release Date: May 23, 2003
Studio: Universal Pictures
Director: Tom Shadyac
Starring: Jim Carrey, Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Aniston, Philip Baker Hall, Catherine Bell, Lisa Ann Walter, Steven Carell, Nora Dunn, Eddie Jemison, Sally Kirkland

Plot Summary: "Bruce Almighty" stars Jim Carrey as Bruce Nolan, a "human interest" television reporter in Buffalo, New York who is discontented with almost everything in life, despite his popularity and love of his girlfriend Grace (Aniston). At the end of the worst day in his life, Bruce angrily ridicules and rages against God- and God responds. He appears in human form (Freeman) and, endowing Bruce with all His divine powers, challenges Bruce to take on the big job and see if he can do it any better.

Visit the official movie site here (http://www.brucealmighty.com/).

Buy the movie! (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000AKCKI/toonzone03/)

Comments?
Edited by The Penguin (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?goto=postid&postid=784835)


My first Talkback. No one went to this movie, that's why I'm the one making the thread for it.

Reference to Conan!

Wish they would make reference to a certain religion like Dogma did but good message overall. Heck, Christians love the Matrix and that doesn't reference a specific religion.

Still I hope it does better than Matrix Reloaded. Because I think this has a better Christian message.

[The Penguin]

A poll has now been added to this thread and the first post has been added to match the not difficult to do style (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?goto=postid&postid=784835). Currently posted talkbacks are currently in the process of being edited to match.

This is not direct at Jimmy or anyone else in particular (he actually did do a lot better job than a lot of folks, just not the right style), but if everyone could read that post before posting a talkback we can have sharp looking threads that tell posters everything they might want to know before going. Afterall, we are keeping them (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?goto=postid&postid=784839) now. ;)

Thanks.

[Jimmy Kustes]

Thanks Penguin. I forgot some stuff. If anyone wants to know, I did have the poster and the tagline.

[The Penguin]

Thanks Penguin. I forgot some stuff.No problem. The entries on ComingSoon.net (http://www.comingsoon.net) have everything you could want. ;)

This movie should be great though, I hope to see it by the middle of next week.

[Jimmy Kustes]

Box Office Mojo estimates it made 20 mil on Friday.

[Tobias]

Saw it yesterday. It had some truly hilarious moments, and was good overall, but it was also extremely predictable in some parts. But it was good to see Jim Carrey returning to what he does best: Physical comedy.

[Drachentöter]

The movie disappointed me...

The first act is boring, for the most part. The humor is cheap and spread far apart. So, the movie doesn't become truly enjoyable until Bruce gets his powers. Then there are a few inspired moments of comedy (practically all ruined by the trailers) and a neat way to deal with prayer-answering. Unfortunately, the movie's creativity ENDS there as any possibilities of awesomeness are struck down by a sappy third act aimed at giving the story a moral.

Basically, the forumla that worked for Liar Liar does not work for Bruce Almighty (same director, I believe). In Liar Liar, Carrey plays a selfish, yet basically good guy who finds himself in an extraordinary situation that teaches him to be a better, more considerate person. In Bruce Almighty, Carrey plays a selfish, yet basically good guy who finds himself in an extraordinary situation that teaches him to be a better, more considerate person.

It doesn't work here, becaue Bruce Almighty's premise is so much GRANDER. Yet the movie treats limitless power as if they were cheap party tricks. This is part of the joke, but the punchline isn't satisfying.

Carrey's trademark zany antics are hit and miss in the movie. This isn't Ace Ventura, in order to make Bruce easier to relate to, he shouldn't be doing stuff like going "Good-GUUUUUD" or "B-E-A-UTIFUL" only to become a depressed, raging character who tells God to "bring it on."

Freeman, on the other hand, does an excellent job. Despite the sappy lines he's given. "When a teenager says no to drugs, and yes to an education...that's a miracle." Yeah, if the teen lives next to a crack factory. :murphy:

The movie's message is sometimes presented subtly with clever lines and other times shoved into the audience like a spoonful of medicine. "It's good for you." But not for the movie.

Aniston's just there....

Overall, certain moments are inspired and the movie is still funny in many spots. But the spots are far between and the potential is wasted.

Favorite Lines

God: You may not mess with free will.

Bruce: May I ask why?

God: YES! That's the beauty of it.
----
Bruce: How am I supposed to make a person love me if I can't interfere with free will?

God: Welcome to my world.

Favorite Moments

A monkey coming out a gang member's rear.

An anchor being manipulated into a gibberish-spouting fool.

Bruce trying to find a way to organize prayers.

[okendri]

Heck, Christians love the Matrix and that doesn't reference a specific religion. Because of this, I hope it does better than Matrix Reloaded. Because at least this has a better Christian message.

Why should a person cheer for a movie because it has a better Christian message than another movie?

[Jimmy Kustes]

Why should a person cheer for a movie because it has a better Christian message than another movie?

For the same reason some Christians buy music from Christian artists over music from secular artists.

As a Catholic, I prefer entertainment to reference Catholicism over general Christianity. I can relate much better to the religion in Kevin Smith movies and Family Guy then the ones in movies like The Ten Commandments or Prince of Egypt.

Actually, Bruce Almighty really isn't a Christian movie. The only people who would not relate to the movie would be athiests and agnostics. You could worship any diety, Budda, Jesus, Allah, Satan, Moses, a cow, and still get the movie.

If you are a Catholic like me, you can relate Morgan Freeman to the one true God: the Virgin Mary. (I'm so going to hell)

[Barb Gordon]

Well I found this movie to be incredibly hilarious. I laughed so hard I started to cry. Maybe it was because I'd gone through a long day at work, maybe because I'm easily pleased, or maybe...because Jim Carrey was just really really funny. It was probably a mix of all three factors :p But this was great, I really really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone that's wanting to just have an enjoyable 2 hours at the theater. It does kinda give you the not so subliminal message of "Go Pray" when you leave, but I didn't mind. Might be why critics don't seem to like it though. Comedy + Religion, not always the best combination I suppose, and you can get flak from all sorts of people. But it's such a lighthearted comedy, I'd find it hard for anyone to really hate it. It was simple, sweet, and funny...and Jim Carrey was great. I'm liking him more and more as he gets older.

~Barb

[Sango]

If you are a Catholic like me, you can relate Morgan Freeman to the one true God: the Virgin Mary. (I'm so going to hell)

I hope you're being sarcastic...¬_¬

[Jimmy Kustes]

I hope you're being sarcastic...¬_¬

Yeah. i thought that was obvious.

[Sango]

Sorry...I get a bit touchy sometimes with that because I *absolutely* hate it when people are always telling me I worship Mary. Just making sure! ^_^;;

[pabcool]

A good movie. While it was a little moralistic for my liking, nevertheless a sweet little movie. LOVED the newscast bits, particularly Bruce going insane in the middle of a report, and him making Evan say gibberish, obcenities and plain idiocies. I also thought the "You've got prayers!" thing was a cute, if cliched, AOL takeoff.

I'm going with a B+. (When it's funny, it's hillarious! When it's not, it's still a decent, somewhat cheery movie)

[Yuss]

"PRAYER POST-ITS!"

Man, this movie was funny... So many great moments (though most of them were ruined by the trailers like VortexInfinite said). There were some sappy parts, but they weren't nearly as bad as in "Liar Liar". Most of the movie was just great comedy and the audience was in hysterics. Go Jim.

****1/2

~B+:

[TimTwoFace]

I just got back from seeing the Monday matinee showing at the local megaplex and I thought it was good. Thing is, it could have easily been a great movie with a lot of depth, rather than a number of creative "miracle" gags. The movie could have been both and done far better than the 3.5 star rating than I gave it.

That said, it's still thoroughly enjoyable.

-Tim

Question: Was that monkey INTENTIONALLY supposed to look like the one from the Ace Ventura movies? Hell, was it the same monkey?

[Discloner]

Actually, Bruce Almighty really isn't a Christian movie. The only people who would not relate to the movie would be athiests and agnostics.

Actually, I found that anyone can relate to this movie. You don't have to be a believer in religion or not. There's something for EVERYONE and the moview really isn't limited to whether or not you believe in god or not.

I saw it today and I loved it. The news casting scene where Jim makes his rival speak gobbly gook was halarious! As was when he was going to get a spoon after he first got his powers.

It was also funny when Morgan Freeman exclaimed "Allrighty then..", as a nodd to Ace Ventura...which was directed by the same person.

Good movie. Welcome Back Jim!

[Conekiller]

It was alright, the middle was absolutey hilarious, as were a few other scenes fromt he beginning (Him throwing a fit to not wake up, the dog peeing while he holds it etc) but the glory then comes from his powers. I got the biggest kick the most friom the constant ramificatins to his selfish use of his powers like the flood in japan or EVERYONE in town winning the lottery.

But once the whole girlfriend thing happened, it fell apart, i barely cared about the movie (I was convinced my friend fell asleep at some point). It should have kept some quirky stuff happening toward the end too, but I guess Carrey is just trying to be a normal guy with an off beat sence of humor now instead of an insaniac like before (which I loved)

B-

[SilverKnight]

I just saw the movie, and to be totally honest, I liked the "dramatic" parts more than the comedic. I mean, don't get me wrong, there were some pretty hilarious moments. (I loved the jazz thing.) Also, a movie that has Morgan Freeman saying, "Alrighty then," is definitely a keeper. But, I found I was paying attention more to the dramatic scenes than the comedic ones. Some of the gags were just flat out stupid. (I'm in the minority, but I personally think Carrey's getting too old for the slapstick, gag comedy. Rather, I think he's moved on.)

[Mynd Hed]

Well, I went and saw on Friday, and I thought it was pretty good. Not spectacular, but pretty good. You get the idea that Jim Carrey is trying really, really hard to make "It's a Wonderful Life" and not quite succeeding. (-: Anyway, the humor is there, if you like to watch Jim Carrey making funny faces, that is. Which I do, so that was quite good. As far as the drama goes... well, it was okay.
I do like the fact that, at the beginning of the movie, I was saying to myself, "He's got a good, fun job, a pretty nice apartment, and a hot girlfriend... yeah he had a bad day, but what the heck is he whining about?" and by the end of the movie, I realized that that's the moral of the story. Quit your whining. (-:
Actually, the REAL moral of the story is that when your girlfriend has left you and you've tried everything up to and including omnipotence to get her back, the only SURE way to get her back is to attempt suicide by standing in front of traffic. That's right, kids, attempted suicide is the surefire way to get a lot of attention from your loved ones!

(-: Speaking of going to hell....

No, it was a cute movie if you suspend your disbelief enough to swallow the premise, although I do feel that it suffered a little because they couldn't seem to figure out whether Morgan Freeman was supposed to be the Christian God, the Old Testament God, the New Testament God, the New Age God, or what. Bruce did get a whole bunch of neat magic tricks, but he didn't seem to have much in the way of omniscience, which personally is probably the one thing I'd want the MOST out of God's toolkit. But that's just my nitpicking self talking. It's a fun family movie and definitely worth the price of a ticket.

[wrenchien]

i wonder if george burns is spinning in his grave, that they did a god movie.

glad it's not related to ' oh god, you devil' and it's two prequels.

my mom don't like jim carrey, but i will consider seeing it someday..

perhaps in the cheap seats, though.

amen,

wrenchien

[JustJack]

Start off with an immensely unlikeable character, make him a jerk-off God, add a thousand obvious cliche's that you could see coming from a mile away, and a few good jokes...and this is Bruce Almighty.

Fabulous concept, but there could have been two road's...they chose the easy road. Something bluntly obvious and expected. Not a single event in the movie was a suprize. And there were about 6 good jokes all the way thru.

All I can say is that they should have spent more time writing a good script, than the time spent on doing the "parting of the soup" scene.

[Condiment King]

Just got back from the theatre.

And yes, Bruce Almighty = Liar Liar. Same premise basically.

1. Guy interesting in another girl. Returns to true love. You could even stress this to 'a notion they will get married'. You get that vibe from Liar Liar.
2. Ordinary Guy in Extraordinary circumstances. In this case, being honest 24/7 and being God are almost the same thing with what powers Bruce actually preformed. :-/
3. Moral

Though I guess you could put up a case that Jennifer Aniston was less into this movie than Maura Tierney was in Liar Liar. But you have to say that Fletcher Reede and Bruce have tons in common. And the supporting character of Max was missing (unless you count the dog but please).

Well, maybe I'm going too much into this. What this all leads up to is Bruce Almighty did it BETTER. Liar Liar, while semi-focusing on Jim Carrey's comedy skills did not really take advantage of them, and use it all like Bruce Almighty did. Jim is also sporting a complete different sort of comedy than usual. The only thing that made me wince was 'Hi-ho sailor.' which reeked of Ace Ventura. Actually there were more references to Ventura like Morgan Freeman's 'Alrighty then.' which made Carrey turn, and then the monkey coming out of the gang member's behind.The gang members weren't even believable. It made you root for Bruce, I mean c'mon. Bruce Almighty seemed to lack the cheesy/semi-cute moments of Liar Liar, which was good like the claw and the Jordan shot.

As for the movie as a whole, it was one of Carrey's better movies. It was almost like Jim Carrey played himself, which is believable since his other characters' have acted very Carrey-ish (Riddler, Fletcher) and had slogans (Truman, Ventura) and still feel like the character. The ending of the movie really brought out that this man was Bruce, not Jim Carrey.

Favorite moment of the movie had to be the entire segment with the Falls. That was pure brillance, had me in stitches. Pure Carrey.

While its true that a bit of the movie COULD have been out of it, (didn't serve a purpose, lacked a bit of taste), but it was small so I'll let it slide.

This movie met all my expectations and exceeded on them.

Five stars.

[The Penguin]

I went to Bruce Almighty on Wednesday and after it was over, I dang near felt like had a religious experience. Not because it so hilarious, but because of the messages by the end.

A lot of the movie was funny, but at the same time there comes a point when I can’t find humor in the misfortune of a character that I care about and when Bruce was out on the boat and he found out Evan was the new anchor and he stole his line from the cookie story. Carrey’s reactions were funny, but at the same time I felt sorry for him—he felt lied to and stepped on and often times that just isn’t funny.

Parts I really did enjoy were the early conversations Bruce has with God. With thing like the filing cabinet you could tell the Big Man enjoyed messing with him and I loved it when He brought Bruce to Mount Everest and finished his sentence with “now that you’re dead.” He followed Bruce’s shock with “I’m just messin’ with ya.” :D

Bruce had a lot fun with God’s powers and parting his soup and the cars during rush hour was pretty cool. His revenge on the street gang was pretty fun, albeit a bit out there. It was kind of mean how he messed with Evan when he was doing the news, but the guy deserved it at the time. My friend Jason commented how that segment could have gotten old if it went on too long, but it was just about right.

I actually found I liked the movie a lot better when Bruce changed and was willing to help people. I always liked the Vertical Horizon song, “You’re A God” and it fit perfectly with the lessons Bruce was learning as he helped the man whose car had broken down and made peace with Evan over the anchor job.

Bruce Nolan learned valuable lessons about accepting things about your own life that you cannot change and “making your own miracles.” Unfortunately God is not going to seek us out and tell us these things; Bruce learned that you must seek God.

[Samurai Karasu]

It's good to see Jim back. I really enjoyed this movie (just saw it today my dad even laughed after being brought up on a farm working 3.4 of the day) But the true joy was being able to flash around my "adult" ticket at the theatre after having been turned down to a date because I was "to young" heh


And thats the way the cookie crumbles

[MILatino]

I just saw this movie last week while on vacation. This is definitely a "rent at home" movie. It's one of those "feel good" movies that's good on a rainy Saturday. Those of you comparing it to Liar Liar are correct in that it's a similar plot. For that matter, it's just like Spider-Man in that Bruce learns "with great power comes great responsibility." The effects were cool and some would have been funny, but were ruined by the trailers and TV commercials showing them ahead of time.

Freeman as God was a good choice because he pulled off that "loveable but a force to be reckoned with" routine very well. He also did it with a great sense of humor that most extreme right-wingers don't want to see God have. They expect Him to be an Almighty Tyrant.

Carrey was... well, Carrey. It was just him doing another role, but the same character. Sometimes he made me laugh, other times not.

Aniston's character could have been done by anyone, it had no umph to it at all.

My favorite parts of the movie are with the dog and the anchor's babbling. The least comfortable scene for me (seeing that I am Puerto Rican) is that the bullying gang was made of all Latinos. It should have been a mixed group. Why all Latinos? Most Latinos would cringe at the sight of someone being disrespectful to someone elderly. Sigh... I guess all groups have their punks.

Lastly, I'd like to point out that Bruce broke the rule. Affecting the world around someone is not breaking free will. Forcing the anchor to babble was breaking free will. Making the anchor's mouth stay shut, or turning off the camera, or making the words come out in a foreign language (while he was thinking them in English) is not breaking free will because the anchor would have been willing the correct words, it's just they were being stopped/altered upon exiting. However, making the guy talk gibberish was affecting his brain and altering his will. He wanted to speak but was being forced to think in babble so it came out babble. That was a no-no.