BRUCE ALMIGHTY

God is so fed up with a kvetching TV news reporter that He puts him in charge of running the world.

CAST: Jim Carrey, Jennifer Aniston, Morgan Freeman, Mark Adair-Rios, Catherine Bell, Sally Kirkland, Lisa Ann Walter, Philip Baker Hall (Directed by; Universal

DIRECTOR: Tom Shadyac

"At least this time, director Tom Shadyac (‘Patch Adams,’ ‘Dragonfly’) doesn't rely on sick kids to make his point. He does, however, continue to rely on maudlin scenarios and conventional resolutions that leave audiences feeling as though they've seen this movie somewhere before…‘Bruce Almighty’ brings little new to the party…as with all of Shadyac's films (including those he did earlier with Carrey, ‘Ace Ventura: Pet Detective’ and ‘Liar, Liar’), there's a soft cream center to the entire endeavor that rules out the presence of anything truly subversive." --Chris Kaltenbach, The Baltimore Sun

"The movie is mainly an excuse to display special-effects gags in the form of the various miracles manifested -- some of which are highly imaginative, some of which aren't...As usual, Carrey is very funny, and occasionally quite endearing. But, at age 41, his handsome face is showing the first signs of middle age, his heart is clearly no longer in urinating dog jokes and he communicates the fact that he really would rather be somewhere else." --William Arnold, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"In Mr. Carrey's rambunctiously funny new comedy, ‘Bruce Almighty,’ his alter ego, Bruce Nolan, a frustrated television newscaster in Buffalo relegated to human interest stories, gets to rampage at the loftiest spiritual level…Even more than Jerry Lewis, Robin Williams or Pee-wee Herman, Mr. Carrey, now 41 (pretty old for an overgrown kid), sustains a maniacal energy that explodes off the screen in blinding electrical zaps…At least until its preachy, goody-goody conclusion, ‘Bruce Almighty’ is funnier than either of the two earlier Carrey films (‘Ace Ventura: Pet Detective’ and ‘Liar, Liar’) directed by Tom Shadyac, who oversaw this latest farce." --Stephen Holden, The New York Times

"The sporadically funny ‘Bruce Almighty,’ Carrey's gross-out version of ‘It's a Wonderful Life,’ is, at least, easier to sit through than his last movie -- the painfully earnest ‘The Majestic,’ which tried to gerrymander the classic farce ‘Hail the Conquering Hero’ into a blacklisting drama, with mind-numbing results…Tom Shadyac, who helmed Carrey in the funnier ‘Ace Ventura’ and ‘Liar Liar,’ must have been overwhelmed by the massive special effects -- the actors don't seem to have been directed at all, and the movie is very sluggishly paced." --Lou Lumenick, The New York Post

"The idea of casting Jim Carrey as your average schmoe who suddenly inherits God's powers seems funny. And it is, for the first 45 minutes of the film…But then the film's three writers run out of funny ideas. Literally. It's stunning to watch, the comedy equivalent of a car having a blow-out at 80 m.p.h. and spinning helplessly out of control… Carrey has lost none of his insanely protean comic ability. He may be the funniest and most inventive physical comedian working today, but he seems loathe to rely on that instinct. Instead, like too many other comedians-turned-actor (hello, Robin Williams?), he wants to warm hearts, rather than tickle funnybones." Marshall Fine, The Journal News

"‘Bruce Almighty’ is a charmer, the kind of movie where Bruce learns that while he may not ever make a very good God, the experience may indeed make him a better television newsman…Freeman plays God with a quality of warm detachment that is just about right… Aniston, as a sweet kindergarten teacher and fiancee, shows again (after ‘The Good Girl’) that she really will have a movie career." --Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

"‘Bruce Almighty’ is both entertaining and disappointing, a mildly rude comedy that morphs so predictably into a Life Lesson that it seems etched in stone…‘Bruce Almighty’ is from the same team that produced ‘Liar, Liar’ and the ‘Ace Ventura’ movies, but even though the talented star is back in the manic mode in which he is most comfortable, a Jim Carrey who adds false piety to his showboating is even creepier than the Cable Guy." --Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch