Bruce Almighty

Bruce Almighty
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Tom Shadyac
Produced by	Tom Shadyac Jim Carrey James D. Brubaker Michael Bostick Steve Koren Mark O'Keefe
Screenplay by	Steve Koren Mark O'Keefe Steve Oedekerk
Story by	Steve Koren Mark O'Keefe
Starring	Jim Carrey Morgan Freeman Jennifer Aniston Philip Baker Hall
Music by	John Debney
Cinematography	Dean Semler
Editing by	Scott Hill
Studio	Spyglass Entertainment Shady Acres Entertainment Pit Bull Productions
Distributed by	Universal Pictures (Domestic) Buena Vista International (International)
Release date(s)	May 23, 2003 (2003-05-23)
Running time	101 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$81 million
Box office	$484,592,874

Bruce Almighty is a 2003 American fantasy comedy film directed by Tom Shadyac and written by Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe and Steve Oedekerk. It stars Jim Carrey as Bruce Nolan, a down-on-his-luck TV reporter who complains to God that he isn't doing his job correctly, and is then offered the chance to try being God himself for one week. Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Aniston, Steve Carell, Catherine Bell, Lisa Ann Walter, and Philip Baker Hall also star, while Tony Bennett makes a cameo appearance.

This is Shadyac and Carrey's third collaboration after working together on Shadyac's first film, Ace Ventura, Pet Detective, which also launched Carrey's career, and Liar Liar.

When released in American theaters in May 2003, it took the #1 spot at the box office, grossing $85.89 million - higher than the release of Pearl Harbor, making it the highest-rated Memorial Day weekend opening of any film in motion picture history (until the release of X-Men: The Last Stand in 2006). The movie surprised media analysts when it beat The Matrix Reloaded after its first week of release. By the time it left theaters, it took in a United States domestic total of over $242 million and $484 million worldwide. The film has gone on to become a cult film.

Plot

Bruce Nolan (Jim Carrey) is a television field reporter for Eyewitness News on WKBW-TV in Buffalo, New York but desires to be the news anchorman. He is passed over for the promotion in favour of his co-worker rival, Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) and becomes furious and rages during an interview at Niagara Falls. His actions lead to his suspension from the station, followed by a series of misfortunes when he is assaulted by a gang of thugs for protecting a blind man they are beating up. Bruce complains to God that He's "the one that should be fired".

Bruce later receives a message in his newspager, directing him to an empty warehouse where God (Morgan Freeman) appears. God offers Bruce his powers to prove that he is doing the job correctly. God tells Bruce not to tell others he has God's powers nor use the powers to alter free will. Bruce is initially jubilant, using his newfound abilities for personal gain, such as getting his job back, impressing his girlfriend Grace Connelly (Jennifer Aniston), breathing insects onto the gang that assaulted him, and making a monkey come out of one gang member's rear. Bruce uses the powers to cause miraculous things to occur at otherwise mundane events that he covers, such as discovering Jimmy Hoffa's body, framing two reporters (in revenge for mocking him for his live rage at Niagara falls) for illegal drug possession, or causing an iron meteor to harmlessly land near a cook-off, earning him the name "Mr. Exclusive". Bruce then gets revenge by causing Evan to embarrass himself on-air, which results in Evan being sent back to his reporting job and Bruce installed as the new anchor.

But Bruce hears voices in his head that (at first) he cannot understand. He later re-encounters God on Mount Everest, who explains that the voices are prayers meant for God that Bruce must deal with. He also confronts Bruce on using his powers for personal gain and not for helping people. Bruce creates a computerized email-like system to receive the prayers and respond. Predictably, he finds that the influx is far too great for him to handle - even though God has stated that Bruce is only receiving prayers from the Buffalo area. To save himself time, Bruce sets the program to automatically answer every prayer as Yes for the duration of his stint as God.

Bruce attends a party celebrating his promotion. When Grace arrives, she finds Bruce and his co-anchor Susan Ortega (Catherine Bell) kissing, after she had forcefully come on to him, and flees, refusing to believe his pleas that it was a misunderstanding. Bruce follows her, trying to use his powers to convince her to stay, but cannot influence her free will. As Bruce looks around, he realizes that the city has fallen into chaos due to his actions: parts of the city believe the Apocalypse is near because of the meteor strike at the cook-off, while a large number of people, all who prayed to win the multi-million dollar lottery, are now rioting because they've all won and their prize has been reduced to a few dollars. Bruce returns to God, who explains that he can't solve all the problems and that Bruce must figure out a way himself. Bruce returns to his computer system and answers prayers as best he can. He then resigns his short-lived anchorman career and informs Evan that he will be given back the job. When Grace moves in with her sister, Bruce gets curious about her prayers and, reading through them, finds a prayer asking for Bruce's success and well-being. As he reads it, another prayer from Grace arrives, asking not to be in love with Bruce anymore.

Saddened, Bruce walks alone on a highway in a thunderstorm. He asks God to take back the powers and to remove his fate from his own hands. Bruce is suddenly struck by a truck and, upon regaining consciousness, finds himself in a white void. God appears, and asks Bruce what he really wants; Bruce admits that he only wants to make sure Grace finds a man that would make her happy. God agrees, and Bruce finds himself bruised and bandaged in the hospital, shortly after having been near-miraculously resuscitated by the doctors. Grace arrives and the two rekindle their relationship (while they hug, Bruce mutters to God, "Now You're just showing off."), with Bruce and Grace later becoming engaged. After his recovery, Bruce returns to his field reporting but takes more pleasure in the simple stories and interviews. The film ends with him doing an item at the same bakers shop he was at in the beginning - this time his charm and enthusiasm causes his colleagues, Evan and Grace to break spontaneously into joyful applause, and then the beggar whom Bruce encountered several times previously finally reveals himself to be God.

Cast

• Jim Carrey as Bruce Nolan
• Morgan Freeman as God
• Jennifer Aniston as Grace Connelly
• Mariam Sisauri as Debbie Connelly
• Philip Baker Hall as Jack Baylor
• Steve Carell as Evan Baxter
• Catherine Bell as Susan Ortega (anagram: "Satan Gore Us")
• Mariam Sisauri as Anita Mann
• Nora Dunn as Ally Loman
• Eddie Jemison as Bobby
• Micah Stephen Williams as Boy on bike
• Tony Bennett as himself
• John Murphy as himself
• Madeline Lovejoy as Zoe

Reception and controversy

The film received mixed reviews, with a score of 49% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 181 reviews and a weighted average score of 46 out of 100 on Metacritic. It received a B rating at Box Office Mojo and a score of 6.6 on Internet Movie Database. The film took nearly $243 million at the box office, making it Carrey's most successful film since 2000's How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Controversy

The film was banned in Egypt due to pressure from Islamic religious circuits who objected to the portrayal of God as a visually ordinary man. Bans in both Malaysia and were eventually lifted after the Censorship Board gave it the "18PL" rating (suitable for adult viewers only for a combination of two or more of the given parental ratings). Also, since God contacts Bruce using an actual phone number rather than a number in the standard fictional 555 telephone exchange, several people and groups sharing this number subsequently received hundreds of phone calls from people wanting to talk to God. The producers noted that the number was not in use in the area code (716, which was never specified on screen) in the film's story but did not check anywhere else. The home video and television versions changed it to the fictional 555.

Sequels

On June 22, 2007, a sequel to Bruce Almighty entitled Evan Almighty was released, with Steve Carell reprising to his role as Evan Baxter and Morgan Freeman returning to his role as God. Although Shadyac returned to direct the sequel, neither Carrey nor Aniston were involved with the film, though Carrey's character, Bruce, is mentioned in the film's teaser trailer. The sequel was not as well received as the predecessor, with a 23% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a rating of 37/100on Metacritic.

On January 12, 2012, a true sequel to Bruce Almighty was announced starring Jim Carrey.

Soundtrack

Bruce Almighty: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by John Debney, Various Artists
Released	June 3, 2003
Genre	Soundtrack
Label	Varèse Sarabande

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic

The soundtrack was released on June 3, 2003 by Varèse Sarabande. Tracks 9-14 are from the score composed by John Debney, performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony (conducted by Pete Anthony) with Brad Dechter and Sandy De Crescent.

Tracklist

1. "One of Us" - Joan Osborne
2. "God-Shaped-Hole" - Plumb
3. "You're a God" - Vertical Horizon
4. "The Power" - Snap!
5. "A Little Less Conversation" - Elvis vs. JXL
6. "The Rockafeller Skank" - Fatboy Slim
7. "God Gave Me Everything" - Mick Jagger featuring Lenny Kravitz
8. "AB Positive"
9. "Walking on Water"
10. "Vertical 69"
11. "Bruce Meets God"
12. "Bruce's Prayer"
13. "Grace's Prayer"
14. "God's Prayer"
15. "Seventh at Seven"

External links

• Official website
• Bruce Almighty at the Internet Movie Database
• Bruce Almighty at AllRovi
• Bruce Almighty at Box Office Mojo
• Bruce Almighty at Rotten Tomatoes
• Bruce Almighty at Metacritic